Memorials are for Dead People
by xtiansugar
Summary: What Jack really can't understand is why people keep saying Ianto's dead. Set after series 2 but AU because Tosh and Owen are still alive. Torchwood and characters belong to RTD and BBC.
1. Chapter 1

The Hub was quiet. Too quiet. Gwen had drawn the short straw this time but they'd all had their turn at long, lonely nights recently and someone had to man the Hub. When she realised she wasn't going to make it home in time for her date with Rhys, she reached for her phone, praying he wouldn't be to be too angry with her. She heard his frustrated growl before she'd even had a chance to open her mouth.

"_No," _he yelled_, "not this time. You promised." _

"I know I did, sweetheart but something came up."

"_Bloody hell, Gwen." _He ranted_, "Which murderous race of aliens is intent on murdering us now, or are you just restocking the stationery cupboard, have you ran out of paper clips again?"_

"Don't be like that love, please."

"_I'm sorry but I hate this. I suppose I should be glad someone is out there saving the World. I just wish it didn't have to be you. So, what is it this time? Do I need to worry?"_

"No, it's nothing like that. Nothing to worry about anyway."

"_Okay, what is it? What aren't you telling me?"_

She sighed. "It's Jack. He's gone AWOL again."

"_Damn it Gwen. This can't keep happening. You're all working double shifts to take up the slack as it is."_

"Please don't be too hard on him, Rhys. It can't be easy for him."

"_It's not always about him though is it? It's hard on all of you."_

"I know, but it's harder for him. I think he really cared, more than he knew. Look, Rhys. I'll be home as soon as I can. You know I love you, right?"

"_I know you do, I love you too."_

* * *

Rhys scratched his head. 'Okay', he thought, 'this isn't going to be that easy after all.' He'd only been here once before and that was when he helped Jack move the stuff in. He hadn't really noticed then how similar all the units were, row upon row of identical up and over doors with only a number to tell one from the other. He thought about ringing Gwen to ask her if she knew the right one but he guessed there wouldn't be much point. There had to be a reason why Jack had asked him to help instead of Owen, and considering the history of thinly disguised animosity between them, Rhys could only assume it was because he didn't want the others knowing where to look for him.

He walked up and down the rows a few times and was about to give up and go home when he noticed a soft glow coming from one of the units. Hoping he wasn't about to walk in on a complete stranger, he lifted open the door and peered in.

"Ah Rhys, she's sent you to drag me back has she?"

He moved further into the unit and flopped down on the floor next to the other man, resting his back on a packing case.

"She doesn't even know I'm here. I haven't told her about this." He waved his hand around the room, taking in the too few boxes arranged haphazardly around the floor.

Jack grunted, "Not much to show for a life is it?"

"He never was one for possessions though was he, you know that."

"Was that his?" Rhys asked, indicating the black hoody the older man was clutching to his chest, "I don't think I ever saw him wearing anything casual."

"Yeah?" Jack hitched a laugh. "That's because you don't really know him, none of you do. Not even Tosh. I know you all picture him in a suit and tie; always smart and perfectly accessorised but the truth is he only ever dresses like that for work. At home or during his down time he can be practically scruffy."

Rhys winced inwardly at the use of the present tense but pretended not to notice.

"When I think of him," Jack went on, "I picture him snuggled up on his sofa, wearing a hoody and pyjama bottoms or jeans. He looks great in jeans, ya know. He's got a lovely ass."

Rhys coughed. "Erm, I'm sure he had," he spluttered, "but that's a bit too much information."

"Has." Jack intoned.

"Mmm?,"

"You said he said you're sure he _had_, you meant has."

Rhys was lost for words, uncertain now about the nature of the relationship between the Torchwood Leader and his young support officer. He'd once been convinced the older man had feelings for Gwen. Ianto had just been a willing distraction while Jack waited until she made herself available. Or so Rhys had thought; now he wasn't so sure. In the light of Jack's reluctance to let his young lover go, it seemed none of them had taken the relationship as seriously as it had warranted.

"I'm sorry," he said, eventually.

"His things shouldn't be here!" Jack growled, turning his watery gaze on the Welshman. "It's not right."

"Gwen told me it was regulations. She said I had to expect it when she......" he paused, "if she......" he left the sentence hanging.

"It is" Jack agreed, "Regulation 482, any and all possessions pertaining to dead Torchwood operatives are to be stored in a Torchwood storage facility indefinitely...."

"Well, there you are then."

"Except Ianto's not dead." Jack's tone brooked no arguments.

Rhys ran his hand through his hair and took in a breath before continuing.

"But it's been over a year," he said, "and there's been no trace. Tosh scanned for that tracker thingy you've all got implanted. It monitors life signs, yeah? And there's nothing. You have to face it, Jack. He can't be still alive. His sister needs closure."

Jack's expression turned sour. "His sister needs access to his bank account," he spat.

"Maybe. I don't know. I don't think that's it though. I think she just wants to say goodbye and move on."

Jack's face crumbled. "She didn't have to have him declared dead." he whimpered, his voice little more than a whisper.

Rhys placed a comforting hand on his back and the older man buried his face in the hoody. Forgetting any past transgressions between them and foregoing his natural British reserve, Rhys pressed Jack's head to his chest and rubbed comforting circles on his back.

Jack stiffened. He pulled away and stood up, his face betraying no signs of the emotions that had threatened to spill out a moment before.

"It's time to go;" he barked, "Gwen will be waiting."

He dropped the hoody on top of the nearest packing case and stalked out. Rhys watched his retreating back for a second or two then picked up the discarded item and shouted after the other man.

"Jack, wait up." He held out the hoody, "screw the regulations," he said.

Jack nodded once, took it back and left without another word.

* * *

"Jack you're back!" Gwen squeaked. She looked past him and frowned. "and you've brought Rhys with you, that's nice. Oh and you're erm, are you wearing a _hoody_?"

Jack walked past without acknowledging her and climbed the steps to his office.

"It was Ianto's" Rhys explained.

"Ah." She nodded, "Well come on, we could still make those dinner reservations if we hurry." She looked up at the office hesitantly.

He followed her gaze then turned back to her.

"You know what," he said, "I fancy Chinese. That restaurant's probably a bit ponsy anyway. Shall I go out and get us all something. I could get Jack something too. We could keep him company."

She felt tears spring up in her eyes and for a moment she couldn't speak.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, it's just that I bloody love you, Rhys Williams."

* * *

Jack leaned forward and rested his upper body on the desk, trying to ignore the persistent pounding in his head. He heard a soft tap on the door but didn't bother to look up, knowing full well whoever it was would barge in anyway, even if he did scream at them to fuck off and leave him alone.

"It's not too late, you know Jack."

Jack groaned and sat up, throwing his head back against the chair back.

"Fuck it, Owen. I thought it would be Gwen or Tosh, but not you."

"Gwen wanted to come," Owen confessed, "but I managed to put her off."

"Good, thank you. I can't be dealing with her bumbling attempts at homespun psychology today."

"Yes well, don't thank me too soon, if I can't convince you to come she'll be straight up after me."

Jack sighed. Getting up from behind the desk he walked past the young doctor and out on to the gangway above the main hub.

"Right listen up all of you," he bawled, "I'm not going, because funerals are for dead people and for the last time, IANTO IS NOT DEAD!"

"It's not a funeral, Jack." Gwen yelled back, "It's a memorial service."

"Whatever, I'm not going anyway." He walked back into his office and slammed the door behind him.

Just before the cog wheel closed behind the three Torchwood Operatives, Jack opened his office door again.

"You do realise you're all going to look pretty foolish when he turns up alive and well!" he yelled.

* * *

Tosh pushed her glasses further up her nose and tapped on her keyboard, pausing to read the screen before taking a pencil from between her teeth and scribbling something on her pad. She looked up when Jack sat down on the edge of her desk.

"What's going on Tosh?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I do know what day it is, I haven't forgotten, ya know. It's exactly two years today since Ianto went missing. I keep expecting one of you to come up and tell me we should do something. I've been sitting up there all day with a speech ready."

She took off her glasses, laid them on the desk in front of her and patted his knee.

"I think we finally understand now. It's not that you've forgotten, we just know you're not ready yet. When you are, you'll want to do something. We'll talk about it then."

"That doesn't sound like something Gwen would say."

"Well, no." She bobbed her head in a mannerism that was purely Tosh, "she took a bit of persuading."

Jack grinned. "Thanks, Tosh. Of all of you, I knew you'd be the one to understand."

The computer beeped and she turned it off without looking at the results. When she turned back Jack's eyes were watering. She took his hand and he brought it up to his lips and kissed it.

"Maybe next year," he croaked.

* * *

Jack pulled the SUV into the underground garage and turned off the engine. He put the handbrake on and looked out the windscreen, staring into the middle distance.

"Everything okay, Jack?" Gwen asked.

He turned in his seat to look at her

"He's not coming back is he?" he sighed.

She put her hand on his knee and squeezed.

"Come on," she said, "best get this weevil settled in before he wakes up and decides to start snacking on your jugular again."

* * *

"Right," Jack took his seat in the briefing room, "let's go over the shortlist again." He took a sip of his coffee and winced, "Gods that tastes like shit. Whoever we decide to take on they better be able to make decent coffee."

They were interrupted by a beeping noise from the workstation. Tosh rushed over to it and clicked a few keys.

"We've got intruders in the Hub." She barked.

Jack's head snapped up, "What, Where?"

"Hang on, I'm zoning in on the location now." She tapped on her keyboard again, "okay, got it. Oh that can't be right. They're in the vaults, Jack. One of the cells to be precise."

Jack relaxed.

"Get the CCTV up then, let's see what we've got."

Tosh turned back to the workstation and after a few seconds an image of one of the cells appeared on the big screen on the briefing room wall.

"Fuck, is that...." Owen said.

Jack growled. "What the hell is he doing here?"

* * *

"Come on, Jack. So my aim is a little off these days, but this is not funny. You can let me out now."

Jack leaned on the wall opposite the cell, "After the stunt you pulled last time you were here, John. I don't think so."

"Be fair. You know that wasn't my fault. I was coerced. Besides, things would have turned out much worse if I hadn't gone back to the year 1 and dug you up. Just imagine what might have happened if we hadn't got back in time to stop Gray shooting Tosh and there is no way anyone else could have talked Owen through venting the radiation in time for him to get out."

"He has got a point, Jack," Tosh agreed, "he saved both our lives in a way."

He glared at her and pushed himself off from the wall.

"Sorry, John. You're going to have to do better than that. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just leave you in there to rot."

John grinned. "I think you'll want to let me out when you hear what I have to say."

"Try me," the other man growled.

John placed his hands on the Perspex wall and looked at his former lover.

"I've found him, Jack. I've found Eye-Candy."


	2. Chapter 2

"_I've found him, Jack. I've found Eye-Candy."_

Jack blinked. Then he blinked again.

"Er, hullo, anyone at home. I said I found him."

"I heard what you said." Jack snapped, "I'm warning you if this is some kind of scam, I'll tear you limb from limb and feed you to the weevils."

"Oh come on. Seriously? After everything we've been through, you think I could do that to you?"

"With you, John. I don't know what to think. Now, where the fuck is he?"

"Ah well, I'm not exactly sure."

Jack thumped the Perspex wall so hard it made Tosh jump.

"Dammit. I warned you."

"No wait." John protested, "I said I've found him and I have. I just haven't pinpointed his exact location yet. Anyway, the real question is not where he is but when he is. Please, let me out of here and I'll explain everything."

Jack reached for his Webley and keeping the gun trained on him, he opened the cell door and pulled him out of the vaults.

"Tosh, briefing room now and tell Gwen and Owen. I'm calling a meeting."

* * *

"Jaaack, C'mon on, there's no need....."

John's plea was cut short by a resounding click as the handcuffs snapped shut, securing him to the chair.

"Just shut the fuck up," Jack growled. He reholstered his gun and sat down, taking the seat opposite his ex partner.

"Look, I'm sorry," John said, "I would have come sooner if I could, but you know how it is, timelines and everything."

"Since when did you care about preserving timelines."

"Since I went legit."

Jack laughed.

"Hey, I'm serious. I'm an upstanding member of society now."

"Yeah, right," Jack scoffed, "What's the angle?"

"Believe what you want but it's true. Give me a chance and I'll prove it to you."

Jack was about to tell him hell would freeze first when the others walked in, Gwen giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder as she took her place at the table.

"Okay, you've got our attention," he said, "now talk."

"As I was saying," John replied, glaring at him,"I'm legit now. Only with the Time Agency gone I need a way to make an honest living and given my background what better way than catching criminals."

"Ha!" Owen guffawed. "Are you trying to tell us you're a copper now."

"Actually, I'm a bounty hunter," John corrected him. "Thing is, I tracked my last assignment all the way through the 31st Century, caught up with him in 3159 in one of the pleasure resorts on Terellian 5."

He reached inside his jacket and in an instant Jack was on his feet, Webley in hand. John slowly backed up and turned to Tosh who was sitting on his left.

"Do me a favour sweetheart," he purred.

She looked at her boss and he nodded once, keeping his eyes and the gun firmly on the seated figure. Reaching across she pulled out a piece of paper which she handed to Jack.

"It's a bill of sale." John explained, "It was among our man's possession when I arrested him. It turned out the resort was experiencing some financial difficulties and he was there brokering a deal with another resort. They were selling off some of their.......assets, if you know what I mean, and I know you do Jack"

Jack's lip curled, baring his teeth, yeah he knew. He'd even visited one of those places in his younger days but that was then and he'd been a different person back then. It wasn't so much that he was averse to paying for it anymore, it was more that nowadays he stuck to establishments that didn't use kidnap as a recognised method of recruitment.

"Notice anything familiar about item 3," John went on.

Putting his gun away, Jack looked at the paper for the first time. After a few moments, his face paled and he flopped back in his chair, letting the paper fall to the floor. A soft "no" escaped his lips and he held his head in his hands.

"What is it, Jack?" Gwen asked, "What's item 3"

He rubbed at his face and then sat up straight, pulling his hands through his hair as he did.

"It's Ianto," he said, his voice breaking.

She bent down and snatched the paper from the floor. She looked at it briefly before her head snapped back up,

"This is in English," she said, "you mean to tell me they speak English on this planet."

"Why wouldn't they?" John countered, "Even in your time most of the World speaks it as a first or second language. It may have escaped your notice but Jack and I speak it and we grew up worlds apart and light years from here. It seemed natural when human beings started settling on other planets that English would be the language of choice."

"So these Terellians. They're us, they're humans doing this," Gwen looked visibly shaken, "selling people like they're.......commodities."

"Oh, don't look so shocked, Miss Goody Two Shoes. How do you think Primark make those tops you're so fond of so cheaply, and that rather fetching ring you're wearing? Are you sure the gem wasn't dug up by some unfortunate African diamond minor with a gun pointed at his head?"

Gwen looked as if she was going to say something else but she was interrupted by Owen.

"Getting back to item 3," he said, "how do we know it is Ianto."

"It says so right there," Jack nodded at the bill of sale which Gwen was still holding, "21st Century Earth boy, approximate age 28, brown hair, blue eyes,and yes Gwen before you ask we do still count in Earth years in the future."

"But that could describe millions of people, billions probably."

"If you let me finish. It also says he's got a distinctive tattoo on his left hip and although they've spelled it phonetically; they give his name as Y-A-N-T-O. Either one of those things on its own could be coincidence but both together? Wait." He looked up sharply and turned to John, "how do you know about the tattoo?"

John smirked at him, raising an eye-brow.

"Fuck off, John." Jack growled, "No fucking way!"

"Oh, relax. Nothing happened, though the way you were treating him back then I wouldn't have blamed him if it had. It was the night after well you know, that day. Don't think he missed the way you greeted Miss Goody Two Shoes over there when we got back to the Hub. You were all over each other. You should have seen the look on his face, Jack but of course you didn't because you were too busy wrapped up in PC Plod."

Jack glanced at Gwen who was staring guilty at her lap. He sighed. It was like the old saying said, you never knew what you had until you lost it. Three weeks after the Grey incident, Ianto had gone missing and Jack's world had come crashing down.

"After you dealt with Gray, you went off gods know where." John continued, "He told me you were probably trawling the clubs looking for a fuck for the night. Just said it, just like that, as if he was telling me you'd popped out to buy milk; but I knew it was a front. I decided there and then I'd do for him what you should have been doing. If you couldn't give him what he needed then I would, but it didn't exactly work out that way. We ended up getting drunk and comparing battle scars. That's when he showed me the tattoo."

Jack pursed his lips and nodded.

"You know, Jack. That boy deserves better and if you don't intend to give him what he deserves, just say the word because I can make sure he gets looked after properly....."

Jack banged his fist on the table,

"You've made your point, John. I've learned my lesson and if...no, when we get Ianto back I'm going to make sure he never has cause to doubt how I feel about him ever again."

Owenshifted in his seat.

"So, if we've established this is Ianto," he said, "how are we going to get him out?"

"That's where it gets complicated," John answered him, "even in the 31st Century there are limits. The authorities turn a blind eye to the resorts because they're an important source of revenue. As long as they pay their taxes, no one asks questions about pay or working conditions. However they draw the line at the buying and selling part of it. That's why the resorts use criminals to act as middlemen, so if they get caught they are kept out of it. Only the broker knows where Ianto is now and last time I asked he wasn't saying. I did try but he wasn't giving anything away and I didn't want to arise suspicion by pressing the matter."

Gwen frowned.

"Hang on, though." she queried, "there's one thing I don't understand.

Jack tried to keep a straight face but groaned inwardly. _ Please don't say it, please don't say it, please don't say it. _

"If you have to travel forward in time to get him," she went on, "why not just go forward to a point before he was moved on, when you know where he is?"

_Fuck. She had to say it. _Jack had been trying really hard not to think about doing that very thing, because while his head was saying beware of the consequences, his heart was saying fuck the consequences. He'd follow Ianto's timeline all the way back to before he was taken and pull him out before anything bad could happened to him.

"Erm," Tosh coughed and gave a brief, shy smile, "it's a paradox, isn't it?" She looked to Jack for confirmation but it was Owen who spoke up.

"Duh, obviously."

"Riiight," Gwen said, "Look, I know I'm not the brains of the outfit but would someone please explain."

"If we grab Ianto at any point before he's so......" Owen stumbled on the word they'd all been avoiding, "before he's moved on, then that document doesn't exist so John can't find it and he can't come back here to tell us where teaboy is."

"But he all ready has....." Gwen struggled to understand.

"Yes, but if we change history, he hasn't and who knows what might happen. We could change it so that Ianto is still taken but we never find out where he is, or worse."

"It's the first thing we learn in the Academy," John went on, "If it makes you feel any better, Gwen, most of us don't understand the mechanics of it, it's just hard wired into us. Messing with a paradox is bad, potentially very bad."

"Right," Jack said, placing his hands flat on the table, "I think that's enough for now. John I'll set you up in one of the guest rooms, everyone else go home and get some rest. We'll reconvene tomorrow."

Owen patted his arm on the way out, "Don't worry," he said, "we'll find him."

Tosh stepped forward to gave him a hug and he held her close, kissing the top of her head. She pulled away and smiled at him. No words passed between them but Jack understood and she followed Owen out of the room.

"Jack?"

"Not now Gwen, please."

She looked at him but after a couple of seconds she gave her head a brief nod and walked towards the door.

"One more thing, Gwen," he called, "could you ask Rhys to join us tomorrow?"

She opened her mouth to ask why but thought better of it and nodded instead.

"Of course. I'll see you in the morning, Jack"

After she left, he stepped around the table and released his ex-partner from the cuffs.

"Finally," John rubbed at his wrist, "you trust me, now?"

"Not as far as I can throw you, John. But if we're going to get Ianto out of this mess, I need you. Just keep in mind, I'm watching you."

John nodded. "I suppose that's the best I can ask for at the moment."


	3. Chapter 3

Jack woke early the next day and spent the morning tying up loose ends, alternating between a nostalgic longing for the past and a burning hope for the future. For the first time in over two years he actually had hope, a hope that burned deep in his stomach causing his vision to blur and his breathing to catch in his throat.

The others drifted in one by one, the blaring of the proximity alarm announcing each arrival moments before a cheery shout of "hello." Jack picked up his pen and paused, his hand wavering over the open folder in front of him. He smiled to himself as he signed his name with a flourish, closing the folder and pushing back his chair in one smooth movement. Rising to his feet, he stopped in the door way, taking one last look around his office before turning off the light and going to meet his team.

"Right everyone," he bellowed, bounding down the metal stairs, his boots resounding around the Hub, "We've got a lot to get through, so let's get on."

He acknowledged Rhys and John with a nod of his head and lead the way to the briefing room. When everyone had settled themselves around the table he began.

"Thank you for coming, Rhys," he said, "and for what it's worth I'm glad you're here. I was against you knowing about Torchwood at first but I'm happy to admit I was wrong. There have been times we couldn't have done what we do without you."

The Welshman nodded, knowing full well what it had taken for Jack to acknowledge his unofficial role on the team.

"As you've all gathered," Jack went on, "I'm leaving today to find Ianto and I want you all to know before I go, that it has been a pleasure to know you all."

"You make it sound like you're not coming back," quipped Owen.

Jack raised an eyebrow but didn't reply and there was a sharp intake of breath from everyone except John.

"You're not coming back?" Owen gasped.

"Honestly, I don't know. It will depend on Ianto. Whatever happens though, I'm not going to let Torchwood take him away from me again. I'm putting him first from now on and I can't do that while I'm working here full time. Who knows, maybe I'll be back as a freelancer one day but as for the rest, I've decided to offer my resignation."

"No Jack," Gwen whimpered, "You can't."

"I'm sorry," he replied, turning stormy blue eyes on her, "I can and I have. I contacted the Queen's equerry last night and as of today, I am no longer head of Torchwood Three. I never intended to stay this long and I certainly never asked to take over. It was foisted on me after Alex killed everyone and I went along with it, even started to like it after a while, but I was never a good leader."

"That's not true," Gwen argued, "You're a great leader."

"Oh yeah," Jack replied, "I'm such a good leader you couldn't wait to rebel against me and then I just upped and left you all without a second thought. The fact is I do most of my thinking with my dick. Plus I'm arrogant, self centred, reckless and irresponsible."

"You saved us, though Jack," Gwen sobbed, "You saved us all." Rhys placed his hand over his wife's and she looked up, smiling at him.

The former Torchwood leader thanked the Gods for Rhys's quiet presence. Loyal, dependable, devoted and steadfast in his unending support for the people he cared for, even if they didn't always deserve such blind faith.

"Look after her," he asked the quiet Welshman, "In fact, keep an eye on all of them for me. Make sure they eat properly and go home once in a while."

"I will," Rhys replied, "you can rely on me, you can rely on all of us."

"Thank you. You're a good man. I'm sorry I haven't always done the best by your wife." He looked around the table, "by any of you. I hope whoever takes over does a better job than me."

"Whoever takes over?" Owen asked, "You mean you don't know, it's not going to be one of us."

Jack shook his head.

"I'm afraid it's not my decision," he said, "If you're interested I suggest you apply."

Owen looked as if he was going to say something else but in the end he simply smiled and shrugged.

"You know you were right about one thing," he chuckled.

"Oh, what's that?"

"That memorial does look pretty silly now."

Jack smiled, hesitantly at first but gradually the smile grew until he was grinning broadly.

Standing up he walked around the table and pulled the young doctor up into a bone crunching hug.

"Oi," Owen snarked, "no tongues, Harkness."

Jack threw back his head and laughed. It was a sound the Torchwood team hadn't heard in a while and despite their sadness at losing their leader, it gladdened their hearts to hear it. He hugged the girls separately and then took Rhys's outstretched arm and pulled him into a hug too.

"You ready?" John asked.

Jack nodded not trusting himself to speak and without further ado, John opened a portal and the two men stepped through it.

* * *

Jack knelt on all fours, coughing and spluttering, breathing heavily through his mouth.

"Temporal sickness?" John smirked "really?"

Jack shook his head slowly and collapsed on to his back.

"Fuck," he laughed, "I'd forgotten what a rush that was." He looked around then sat up, surprised.

"We're on a ship?" he said.

"Your powers of observation amaze me, Captain."

"Is she yours?" Jack asked, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Yup," John replied, "Well, sort of. Best not to ask actually."

"Okay, I won't ask but why are we on a ship?"

"There's a transporter shield all around Terrellian 5 so we'll have to make the rest of the journey the old fashioned way. And when we get there," John went on, "we're going to play it carefully. We can't go around asking for Ianto by name or it won't be long before whoever has him gets wind of it and then they'll do one of two things. They'll either spirit him away to protect their investment or they'll hold him to ransom for a ridiculous amount of money, so we'll pose as punters with a penchant for the 21st Century, try the hotels first and then the clubs, although best hope he's not in one of the clubs. Some of those places cater for certain tastes....." he let his voice trail off.

Jack palmed his face and sighed heavily.

"I can't believe Ianto would do anything like that," he said.

John shook his head, "Sometimes I wonder if you know him at all. That boy has a stronger preservation instinct than a Docalite Mountain Llama. He'll do whatever he needs to do to survive."

"I suppose," Jack agreed, "When did you get to know him so well anyway? What did you two really get up to on your last visit?"

"Told you, we compared battle scars......"

"and nothing else..."

John's eyes gleamed mischievously, "Weell," he grinned, "there might have been a little activity involving a measuring tape."

Jack's mouth fell open causing the other man to laugh out loud. "Shut your mouth Jack," he said, "that is so not a good look on you."

* * *

John was tired, in body and soul. His feet ached, his head felt like it was full of cotton wool and his heart was sick. They had been looking for Ianto for three days, splitting up after the first day to cover more ground. John gave a weary sigh cursing his former partner for failing to understand that mere mortals needed at least one sleep cycle in 48 hours. He walked into what he had decided would be his last establishment for the day and made his way over to the reception desk, giving the young man on duty a heart stopping smile.

"Hello, sweetcheeks," he purred, "What's a lovely boy like you doing in a place like this."

The man inwardly rolled his eyes but kept his professional aloofness intact. "How can I help you, sir?" he asked politely.

"Hmm....later," John leered, "For now I'm looking for something for my boyfriend, it's his birthday soon and I wanted to give him a night to remember. Do you think you can help?"

"I'm sure we can, what's he in to?"

"Oh, he's a real history buff. Loves old earth and all that. 20th or 21st Century is a particular favourite."

"Ah, you could be in luck. We had a consignment come in recently. We haven't had time to catalogue it yet but I think there might be something in there your boyfriend might appreciate. An old Earth boy from that very period in fact."

John wrinkled his nose, "I dunno, maybe I should wait and come back when you've had time to check him over...I'd need to see a picture at least."

"I could introduce you?" the man suggested, "but you'll have to come back tomorrow morning, he's....a bit tied up at the moment." He smirked.

"Okay." John balled his fists but managed to keep his face straight, "and afterwards, if you're interested...."

"Yeah," the man deadpanned, interrupting the former time agent, "I'm not!"

"Excellent, it's a date, then," John laughed, "See ya tomorrow."

He stepped outside. He fiddled with his wrist strap and spoke into it.

"Jack, at the risk of repeating myself," he said , "I think I've found him, I've found Eye-candy."

* * *

"I'm coming with you."

Jack's tone brokered no arguments and no amount of John pointing out that they weren't even sure if it was him was going to change that.

Of course it's him," Jack beamed happily. "How many 21st Century Earth boys can there be on Terrellian 5. It's him, I know it."

John ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay," he said, resignedly, "but follow my lead and try to stay calm."

* * *

"You sure you're ready?" The two former time agents stood outside the hotel. John placed his hand on the other man's shoulder and shook it gently, "Jack," he repeated, "Are you sure you can do this?"

Jack nodded distractedly.

"Okay," John sighed, "let's go."

He wrapped his arms around him and steered him across the hotel lobby.

"For fuck's sake," John muttered, "don't look so nervous." Turning to the young man from the day before he raised his voice slightly and rolled his eyes, "I'm such an idiot," he said, "couldn't keep a secret if my life depended on it. Once I told him I'd found a 21st Century Earth boy, he just had to come too."

"Oh, yeah," Jack snickered eagerly, "You gotta love the 21st. Global warming, world hunger, plague and petulance and in the midst of it, all that pent up sexuality. A heady mix, don't ya think?"

The young man looked unimpressed.

"Yes well, If you'd like to follow me," he said, "he's waiting in the bar area."

John squeezed Jack's hand as they followed, "remember," he whispered, "play it cool."

The bar was almost empty at that time of the morning. A young couple, apparently human, sitting in a booth, heads bent together and hands clasped across the table. A waiter wandering among the tables, preparing for the midday service. A young man sitting on a bar stool talking animatedly to the bartender and sipping from a tall glass.

The receptionist whispered something in the man's ear and he turned towards his two potential punters. John was standing slightly behind Jack and he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him close, as much to keep him upright as to continue the pretence that they were together. Beautiful blue eyes locked on to Jack's and Jack felt his own eyes fill up. "Ianto," he whispered. No one moved. The moment frozen in time as two men gazed at each other, one of them smiling slightly.

"I'm sorry," John spoke breaking the silence, "I'm so sorry."

"Sure, I can be Ianto," the man said, "I can be whatever you want me to be."


	4. Chapter 4

John turned Jack around in his arms. "You okay?" he asked him.

When he didn't reply John hooked his foot around the leg of the nearest chair and pulled it out. Keeping a firm grip on his former partner's shoulders he pushed him gently into a seated position.

"Hey" he soothed, crouching down and taking both Jack's hands in his own, "you with me?"

Jack glanced at the young man at the bar, noting how he wasn't smiling now but was staring at them with a questioning frown. He turned back to John and nodded tightly.

"I was so sure," he said, "Just for a second, I actually thought it was him."

"I know. I know you did. I'm sorry."

Standing up, John pulled out a wallet from his back pocket and took out two folded notes. He threw the notes on the bar and dismissed the boy with a wave of his hand, "we're not going to be needing you after all," he said.

Keeping his eyes downcast, the young man picked up the bills from the counter, climbed down from the bar stool and made to leave the bar. He stopped suddenly when Jack reached out and grabbed at his sleeve.

"My friend and I, we can travel......in time."

"No," John warned, "Don't!"

"We could take you home..." Jack blurted out.

"Fuck."

"Go h-home," the boy startled, "why would I want to go home."

"I just thought......your family, your friends..."

"I have no family. Look, I was a rent boy back then. I lived on the streets, doing much the same thing as I'm doing now. The only difference is here I get to sleep in a nice warm bed every night and get proper food and good medical care. They don't treat us badly here."

"Yes, but you're.....I mean you'd be free."

"Ah but I've got plans," the boy said, tapping the side of his nose, "I'm saving all my tips."

"What's your name kid," John asked.

"Stevie, Stevie Henderson."

"Ah," John smiled. He took out his wallet again, pulled out another note and handed it to the boy. Stevie's eyes widened.

"That's very generous," he gulped.

"Take it with pleasure, just do me a favour and make sure you follow your dreams."

"I will Sir. Thank you." Stevie beamed as he turned around and walked away. He gave the two men a quick backwards glance over his shoulder before disappearing from view.

"What was that about?" Jack frowned.

"That was Stevie Henderson," John replied, "he's famous. Any day now he's going to going to use the money he's been saving from his tips to buy his freedom. No-one's sure how he does it but he's able to buy himself a little going concern and the first thing he'll do is give all the staff their freedom, offering those that stay a share in the business. Most of them will leave of course but a handful stay on. The business is very successful and within a few years all those who threw their hand in with him will be very wealthy. But that's not what he's famous for. No, what he's famous for is being the founding member of Slaves for Justice."

"Oh," Jack's eyes widened as he realised the implications, "Oh" he repeated.

"It was his organisation that took the anti-slavery movement all the way to the Shadow Proclamation, leading to the Declaration of Emancipation. Because of the events which start here, with that boy, slavery is outlawed throughout several galaxies, and to think you could have prevented all that by dragging him back to the 21st Century. What the hell were you thinking anyway? It's going to be hard enough getting Ianto off the planet. We're not here to rescue the whole slave population."

"I know," Jack sighed, "you're right. I know. I don't know what I was thinking."

John gave him a pat on the shoulder "Let's just chalk it up to temporary insanity shall we. We'll grab some lunch then start on the hotels on the other side of the resort. I've got a good feeling about today."

* * *

John caught up with Jack later that evening, sitting by a fountain. His shoulders slumped when he spied him, knowing without asking they were no further forward in their search.

"You look terrible," he said.

"Gee, thanks."

"Well, you do. We both need rest or we're not going to be able to help Ianto when we do find him."

"I know your right." Jack nodded, "Let's try one more place, then we'll go back to the ship and rest. I promise"

"Okay," John sighed, "But just one and we'll do it together."

Let's try....," he scanned the nearby buildings before pointing to a glass fronted high rise surrounded by a small but lush garden, "that one." The sign above the entrance read, "A bene placito"

"At Your Pleasure," Jack read, "why there?"

"Just a feeling, come on."

John held out his hand and pulled the other man up to a standing position.

"Back story?" Jack asked.

"Hmmm, Let me see. You're a naive, farm boy. Never been off world before. I'll be your boyfriend, suave, sophisticated and living off daddy's trust fund, teaching you the ways of the world."

Jack rolled his eyes.

"What," John grinned, "it's not that far from the truth. You were a bit wet behind the ears when you first joined the agency."

Jack shook his head but let John pull him in the direction of the hotel entrance. By the time they burst through the door both men were well into their respective characters.

"Trust me, Jarred," John giggled, "you'll love it."

Jack looked around, pretending to be awe-struck.

"Wow," he exclaimed, "I dunno though Jem. It looks a bit expensive."

"It is, you idiot," John put an arm around his waist and kissed the side of his nose, "That's what trust funds are for. Daddy's going to flip when he sees the bill."

"You know you shouldn't piss him off Jem. If he cuts you off again, I'm not going to stick around this time."

John laughed.

"I knew you just wanted me for my money."

The man behind the desk, who had been patiently observing the exchange, coughed politely.

"Good evening," John bellowed, "Your best room please, whatever the cost." He kissed Jack on the cheek, "My little Lamb Chop deserves the best."

Jack smiled shyly.

"Oh you," he said, resting his head on John's shoulder and looking at the receptionist through upturned eye lashes.

The man tapped on the keyboard in front of him,

"Just the one night Sir?" he asked.

"For now," John replied, handing over a credit card.

"J-e-m," Jack sang, stretching out the vowel. "Can we," he looked down at his feet, "you know...like we did on our one week anniversary."

"Oh," John smirked, "you want a playmate , you little minx. Why didn't you say so?"

He grinned at the receptionist raising both eye-brows suggestively.

"Certainly, sirs." The man answered, tapping his keyboard again, "what can I get you."

"Oh, I don't know what do you think Jarred?"

"Have you anything from Old Earth," Jack asked excitedly.

"Yes actually, two. One male, one female."

"Male, definitely," John answered, "I know he doesn't look it but he's a tiger between the sheets, wouldn't want anyone getting hurt."

Jack actually blushed and John wondered whether he'd gone too far. Then he remembered this was Jack, it was much more likely he'd perfected the art of bio feedback than he was embarrassed for real.

"Ahem," the man coughed, "Of course sir. That'll be £200 credits."

"Whoa," John gasped, "that's a bit expensive. He better be handsome."

"Apparently so sir. Would you like to see a picture?"

The man turned the screen around so that they could see what was on it. Jack gasped and John tightened his grip around his waist. The man on the screen looked a little older, the face a little less rounded and the hair a little longer, but it was unmistakably Ianto.

"Oh, you like him do you, Jarred. Better watch out, I might get jealous. " He grinned at the Hotel receptionist. "Put him on my bill and have him sent up to our room in about an hour."

* * *

"Why did you say in an hour," Jack turned on John angrily as soon as the door to their suite shut behind them.

"You look like shit. I just thought you might want a bit of time to freshen up before you see him."

"Oh yeah," Jack replied deflated, "thanks."

"More importantly I can slip out to the bar in about 45 minutes and leave you and eye-candy to get reacquainted."

Jack felt a surge of affection for his old friend.

"Why are you doing all this, John?"

"because I love you, and to be honest, Ianto sort of got to me a bit too. I just want you both to be happy."

"Thank you, Really John, I mean it, from the bottom of my heart. I won't forget this."

As promised, John slipped out 45 minutes later, giving Jack a friendly hug and a good luck peck on the lips before leaving. Alone in the room, Jack paced and worried his bottom lip. What if Ianto didn't want to see him, what if he'd settled here like Stevie had, what if he was still angry with him and hadn't forgiven him for being a dick, what if he'd lost his memory, what if........When the knock came, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear it the first time. He jumped when the knock came again, louder this time. His heart beat a fast tattoo, he swallowed, counted to five and then slowly opened the door.

* * *

Ianto was playing cards with a being whose name and race was unpronounceable to him, which was ironic considering his first language was Welsh. As he wasn't able to distinguish the gender and found it possible to think of him or her as an it, he tried not to think too hard at all. The other man, women......whatever was mostly human in shape but bright blue. He, she, it spoke no English and Ianto's universal translator was on the blink which meant the game was descending into a farcical crescendo of grunting and pointing. He sighed and shrugged apologetically, standing up to get them both a drink. As he did so his handler appeared in the doorway.

"Yanto, you're wanted up top."

Ianto nodded.

"Universal translator's not working."

"Don't worry they both speak English."

_Ah so most likely human then,_ Ianto thought, _good, not that he was prejudice but some of those aliens had tentacles which can find their way into places where tentacles had no business going._

"Both?" Ianto asked, "Guys or Girls?"

"Two guys."

"Kay," Ianto sighed. He wondered when it was that sleeping with random men, women and assorted aliens had become so common place that it no longer elicited any surprise for him.

"Room number?"

"241, it's an all nighter," the other man spoke authoritatively, "so I don't expect to see you again until the morning."

"Kay."

Ianto took the lift to the second floor. He stepped out into the corridor and walked along it, giving in to his compulsion to touch each of the door frames as he passed. Stopping outside 241 he tapped lightly on the door. When there was no response he wrapped louder. He turned away and was about to go down to reception to check he had the right number when the door opened.

The false smile fell from his face as he turned around and stared into familiar blue eyes. He felt his knees wobble and he was grabbed by the waist and pulled through the door.

Jack gently lowered them both to the floor, resting Ianto's head in his lap. He pushed a stray bit of fringe out of his lover's eyes, "it's you, " he whispered, "it's really you this time."

Ianto felt some unnamed emotion bubbling up in his throat, his teeth chattered and his breathing faltered, he screwed up his face and a single tear escaped from his eyes and rolled down his cheek.

"You remember me," he sobbed, "A thousand years and you didn't forget."

Jack's brow crinkled in confusion, "Huh?........."

"Oh you think,....No, Ianto I'm not from now, I'm your Jack.... from your time, we're here to rescue you."

A soft "oh" escaped Ianto's lips. Slowly his mouth turned up, his smile lighting up his whole face making Jack wonder if he had ever seen anything more beautiful. The Welshman turned serious as another tear rolled down his cheek. He reached up and touched Jack's face with the back of his hand.

"Took you're bloody time," he grumbled.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of any real story development in this chapter, more of an interlude really.**

Jack idly traced his forefinger over the dragon motif on Ianto's hip. He bent his head trailing soft butterfly kisses along its scaly body, causing Ianto to buck his hips and hum in pleasure. They'd been reunited for a little over two hours and the love making, because that's what it had been, was slow and sensual.

"I love that tattoo." Jack murmured, "Wasn't sure I'd ever see it again."

"We?" the Welshman asked, responding to something Jack said earlier.

"Huh, what?"

"You said _we're_ here to rescue you, who's we?"

"Oh," Jack lay on his back, snaking an arm under his lover and pulling him into what he told himself was a manly hug and most definitely not a snuggle. He grasped the young Welshman's chin between thumb and forefinger and lifted his face up so he could place a gentle kiss on his lips. "Don't be jealous or angry. He's the one who found you; it's because of him that I'm here."

Ianto groaned and wrenched himself out of Jack's embrace, flopping back down on the bed with an exaggerated huff. "Your bloody Doctor," he groused, "why didn't you tell me. Why did you let me do this," he waved a finger between their two bodies, "if you're back with your Doctor?"

"Ianto stop, It's not the Doctor and even if it was, I wouldn't be with him, not like that, not when you're here. It's John."

"John," Ianto exclaimed, sounding far too excited for Jack's liking. The Welshman coughed, "Oh, erm, I mean.......John," he repeated in a less enthusiastic tone.

Jack glared at his young lover.

"I thought you didn't like him?"

"I didn't, not at first, but when you look past the homicidal tendencies and the slight predisposition to insanity, he's not so bad."

"What went on between you two anyway?" Jack asked, "Should I be worried?"

Ianto lifted his arms, resting his head on them and staring at the ceiling.

"After Gray, you were different," he said, "it's not just that you were cold or distant or secretive because you were always those things."

Jack sighed.

"I'm sorry...."

"No," Ianto went on, "don't try and apologise. I just want to explain about me and John. As I said after Gray you changed and it wasn't that you were less in to me, it was all the mixed messages, I didn't know where I stood with you. One minute you were asking for dates and wanting to hold my hand or kiss me in public, or bringing me flowers and leaving little gifts in the Tourist Office, or looking at me with those eyes like you were about to say something important, and the next you were telling me how you hated the word couple or brushing me off when I tried to talk to you or disappearing when I thought we were going to do something together. Nothing happened between me and John, nothing significant anyway, but he was nice to me, he paid me a lot of attention and told me things."

"Oh yeah, what things?"

"About you mainly. About the Time Agency, about what you were like before............"

Jack smiled tightly, "yeah, before......."

"Jack, I....."

Whatever Ianto was about to say was cut short by a tapping on the door. Jack couldn't decide whether he was relieved or disappointed.

More for Ianto than for himself, he wrapped one of the hotel towels around his waist before answering.

"Eye-candy!" John threw himself on to the bed as soon as the door was open, taking Ianto's breath away, hugging him tightly and squeezing all the air out of his lungs.

Jack coughed loudly.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," John held out his hand. "It's good to see you again Ianto." Ianto grinned, batted the hand away and pulled John into another bear hug.

"Ahem," Jack coughed louder.

"Shut up, Jack," John and Ianto chorused.

"Okay," The Welshman asked happily, pushing John away, "what's the plan for getting me out of here?"

Jack looked at his feet, "Oh...the plan."

"Yes, Jack. The plan?" Ianto repeated.

"Ah," John murmured. His face brightened for a moment, then he shook his head and frowned.

Ianto sat back, resting his upper body against the bedstead. He folded his arms tightly in front of his chest and looked impatiently between the two men. Finally he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You mean to tell me," he snapped, "you came all this way, travelled through centuries, with no fucking idea how to rescue me once you'd found me."

Jack squealed and jumped up on the bed, "You did that eye-roll thing, that was brilliant, do it again, do it again."

"Jack stop it," Ianto grabbed the sheet which was threatening to slip down and expose his private bits. He rolled his eyes again.

"He did it again. Did you see that John. He did it again. No-one, and I mean no-one does an eye-roll quiet like Ianto Jones. Oh how I have missed that.

"Jack," Ianto scolded, "Please calm down, focus. How are you going to get me out of here?"

"Oh yeah, the plan"

"Did either of you stop for one second on the way here to think about what you were going to do once you found me?"

Jack looked downcast.

"I dunno," he mumbled forlornly, "we just thought you were the one who was good at organising stuff. John and I, we're good at rushing in at the last minute, saving the day and looking all heroic and damn sexy."

"Why thank you," John grinned, "you think I look sexy?"

"Of course," Jack grinned back, "meant to say, love the coat. Red really suits you. Red's Ianto's colour too?"

"Ah but he looks great in purple."

"Ianto looks good in everything."

"For fuck's sake," Ianto threw up his arms in despair, "does everyone from the 51st Century have the attention span of a goldfish. The Plan!!!"

"Oh, yeah...the plan?" Jack said.

John looked bewildered.

"Eh? What plan?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Ah, c'mon John," Jack laughed, "Enough teasing. Ianto, did you really think we'd come all this way without a plan."

Ianto gave an exasperated groan and glared at his lover angrily.

"Captain Harkness," he grumbled, "I'm beginning to wonder what I ever saw in you. Now how about you tell me the plan while I get dressed."

"John?" Jack said. When the other man didn't respond he raised his voice and repeated it louder this time,

"John!" he yelled.

"What.....huh, oh yeah sorry."

John dragged his eyes away from Ianto who was struggling to slip on his boxers under the sheet. He cleared his throat and shook his head at himself, pressing a button on his wrist strap to bring up a three dimensional star map which hovered just above his arm.

"This," he said with a swirl of his free hand, "is Terrellian 5." He pointed to another area of the map, "we need to get here, the furthest limit of the planet's transporter shield. I've got a ship docked about half a mile away from here which will take us there and then we can transport wherever or whenever we like. If we get stopped by a space patrol on the way I've got papers which describe you as a notorious 51st century criminal and Jack and I will pose as your captors."

"The hard part," Jack took over, "will be smuggling you out of here. We can't risk them linking us to your disappearance because they'll have our descriptions and we shouldn't be too difficult to find since we don't exactly blend in around here. Ianto, you and I will sneak out first. I'll get you settled on the ship, then sneak back in so John and I can check out in the morning. Hopefully by the time they realise you're gone, we'll be miles away."

"Um oh, okay," Ianto stuttered, "but I need to....I can't,...I mean. I can't go, not yet." He swallowed, took a deep breath and started again, "I have to go to my room and get something first, I can't leave without it."

"What?" Jack scowled, "What could you possibly want. What's so important you can't leave it behind?"

"I...Jack, please. I lost everything when I came here. I left everything behind, all the little things that I thought were important, my coffee machine, photographs of you and Lisa, homemade cards my niece made for me, my stopwatch, everything. I just want to hold on to something this time, please."

Jack stared at him for a few moments and then glanced at John who gave him an almost imperceptible shrug of his shoulders. Finally he opened the door,

"Go then, and hurry."

Without another word, Ianto walked out the door and took the lift down to the bowels of the hotel. He hurried along the basement corridor and stopped outside the room he shared with three other people, silently praying that no one would be in. He swiftly opened the door and slipped through it, thanking the gods that the room was empty. He took in a long pull of air and held it for a few seconds before he forced it out through his gritted teeth. He stumbled over to his bed and collapsed on to it, reaching under the pillow to pull out a leather pouch which he clutched tightly to his chest. Tears stung his eyes as he curled up into a tight ball, his breathing coming in short, sharp gasps as he fought to suppress a growing sense of panic. Slowly he uncurled his fingers and removed a small bottle from the pouch. He held it up to the light and grimaced at the contents, placing it down on the table beside the bed. Sitting up, he emptied the pouch, taking each bit of kit and carefully placing it next to the bottle.

Meanwhile, Jack sat on the window seat in the room three floors up, one foot resting on the floor and the other stretched out on the seat in front of him. He stared out at the stars as he rested his head against the window.

"What do you think he's really doing John?" he asked.

"I've no idea," John shook his head, "Let's just get him out of here first, then we'll worry about what's wrong with him."

In another part of the hotel, in a room much less grand, Ianto felt much calmer. He let himself fall backwards; lying sprawled out on the bed, one foot dangling over the side. His eyes rolled back in his head and his vision blurred as tiny yellow stars danced and twirled behind his eye-lids.

* * *

When Ianto stumbled through the threshold, beaming from ear to ear, Jack gave him a hard look. The Welshman squirmed under the scrutiny and made an effort to rein in his euphoria. He sniffed, frowning when his heightened senses picked up a new scent. He'd been aware of Jack's unique scent since he'd first fallen into his arms earlier in the evening, but this new aroma was different. Whereas Jack was clean and lemony fresh, lemongrass and apple blossom, this new scent was dark and mysterious. It reminded him of Turkish coffee, freshly ground beans and cardamom with just a hint of chocolate. It was a heady, spicy combination, full of danger and eastern promise. His cock twitched involuntarily in response and he closed his eyes, unable to stop himself humming appreciatively.

"Ianto?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you okay?"

Ianto jerked as Jack's voice jolted him back to full consciousness. He blushed, realising he'd been getting off on a smell. The blush deepened and his eyes widened in shock with the knowledge that it was John's pheromones he'd been reacting to. He glanced over to the other man and caught him looking back at him, his expression unreadable and his head cocked to one side as if he was contemplating something. The Welshman glared back defiantly and eventually the former time agent shrugged and turned away. Jack felt he was missing something and it wasn't a sensation he enjoyed. It reminded him of his time with Rose and the Doctor. Much as he loved them both, the little looks and the in-jokes they shared had left him feeling like an outsider at times.

"Sorry," Ianto apologised, "I'm just happy to be going home at last. Now how are we doing this?" he said, changing the subject, "There's a fire escape at the end of the corridor but it's alarmed. I suppose we could break into one of the empty rooms on the ground floor and get out through a window but I don't know which rooms are empty and I don't know how we'd explain it if we get caught breaking in in the middle of the night. That leaves the back entrance through the kitchen. The door there is alarmed too but it's usually left open because the kitchen workers are always popping out for a smoke or for fresh air. I guess the management trust them not to run away because most of them have no where to go."

"Kitchen it is then," Jack said, placing a hand between Ianto's shoulder blades and guiding him towards the door, "and If we get caught," Jack went on, "just act as if we have every right to be there. You'd be amazed how often that works."

* * *

Jack followed Ianto into the lift and watched as he pressed the button for the lower ground floor.

"We'll have to enter the kitchen via the staff quarters." Ianto explained, "the restaurant will still have a few late night customers at this time so we could be spotted if we go in that way. We'll need to go down to the basement and back up. It's a bit of a labyrinth down there so keep close or you're likely to get lost."

As soon as they stepped out of the lift into the corridor, Jack was struck by the marked contrast between this floor and the ones above. No pictures or other ornaments adorned the gray, drab walls. There was nothing in fact, that wasn't entirely functional. Even the floorboards were bare. Ianto placed a finger to his lips, and waved for Jack to follow him.

After the third or fourth change of direction Jack's head was spinning;

"You were right about it being a bit of a labyrinth," he said, "How much longer?"

"Hush," Ianto replied, "not far now."

Both men froze in place when they heard a voice calling from behind them;

"Hey, you shouldn't be down here."

Ianto stopped and turned around slowly, watching as Jack strode purposefully towards the owner of the voice. Although he couldn't see his face, the Welshman knew his lover would be treating the newcomer to the full on Harkness grin.

"Captain Jack Harkness," he bellowed, holding out his hand, "and you are?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ianto had to suppress a snigger, wondering how many times he'd heard Jack use that line, starting with the time when he'd first met the charismatic Torchwood leader in Bute Park.

"You shouldn't be down here," the young man repeated, ignoring Jack's outstretched hand.

"Aaron," Ianto said, pushing past the Captain, "I'm getting out of here. Why don't you come with us," he looked towards Jack, "he could, couldn't he, Jack."

Jack considered his options and came to the conclusion that their best chance of leaving the hotel unseen would be to take the boy with them. They could always dump him later if necessary. Before he could reply however, they heard the sound of boots hurrying down the corridor towards them.

"It's too late," the boy cried, "I saw you earlier, when you got out of the lift. I've all ready called security."

Jack looked around desperately and noticed an open door to his right. He bundled the other two through it and shut it behind him with a soft click. He placed a finger to his lips and waited, putting a hand on Aaron's shoulder in a gesture that was meant to be both comforting and threatening. The three men stilled, barely breathing as the sound of boots came closer and then gradually faded away.

"Do you think we can make it to the kitchen before they come back," Jack whispered.

Ianto nodded.

"Right, in a minute I'm gonna open this door and we're gonna run like hell," He turned to the boy, "Aaron is it?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay Aaron. I want you to follow Ianto and try not to make too much noise. I'll take up the rear."

As soon as he opened the door Jack became aware of two things, the first was that the boots had turned around and were coming closer again, the second and more urgent concern was that Aaron had started yelling at the top of his voice.

"Hey, they're here, they're over here!"

"Run Ianto, Run!"

He took his out his gun from its holster and hit the boy on the back on the neck, catching hold of him and gently laying him to the floor as he crumpled. He took off after Ianto, shooting his gun blindly over his shoulder as he went.

"Change of plan, John," he yelled into his wrist strap, "Get the fuck out of there, NOW!"

* * *

John left the room hurriedly and walked quickly past the lift, making his way to the fire escape at the end of the corridor. He ignored the high pitched screeching noise as he pushed it open and he ran down the metal stairs taking them two at a time. As he reached the last flight, he leaped over the railings, landing on his feet in the alley way below. He stumbled slightly as he recovered his footing and took off towards the street. He hadn't gone more than a few yards when a burly men dressed in a hotel uniform stepped around the corner in front of him. He reached for his gun but froze when he heard a familiar click behind him and felt something hard poking into his back.

"Hands were I can see them."

John slowly rose his hands,

"Ya know, if you wanted to play, all you had to do was ask."

* * *

From their hiding place across the street, Ianto gasped as he watched two men bundle John back into the hotel. He tried to stand up but was grabbed by the arm and forcibly pulled back down.

"John can look after himself," Jack growled, "we have to get you somewhere safe first."


	7. Chapter 7

As John disappeared into the hotel with the two security guards, Jack stood up, pulling Ianto with him. Without a word he dragged the other man away, moving as quickly as he was able to without drawing attention to them. He weaved his way through the late night, early morning revellers, walking brusquely and covering the half mile between the hotel and the ship in less than 10 minutes. He reached under his shirt and pulled out an electronic key which he waved in front of the door to open it. Shepherding Ianto inside, he immediately dropped into John's chair and powered up the engines.

"Um, what are you doing?" Ianto asked.

"Like I said," Jack replied distractedly, "getting you somewhere safe."

He reached up above his head and flipped a switch, then spun the chair a quarter turn to his left so he could read a small screen there. Apparently satisfied, he turned back to the console and pressed a big red button. The whirring of the engines increased and Ianto stared at him open mouthed.

"Please, Jack," he said, "Tell me you're not thinking of buggering off and leaving John behind."

Jack stopped what he was doing and turned his seat to face the Welshman. He grasped both of Ianto's hands in his own and looked up at him.

"This is a time ship," he said. He spoke slowly and clearly as if Ianto would have difficulty grasping the concept. "I can take you home first and come right back to rescue John."

He let go of his lover's hands and turned his attention back to the console. Ianto frowned.

"Oh, okay," he said. He stayed quiet for a moment, watching while Jack continued with his pre-flight routine. "Um....but you're lying," he went on eventually.

Jack paused. His shoulders sagged and he let out a huge breath. Finally, he pressed the red button and the whirring of the engines gradually died down and stopped.

"How did you know?" he sighed.

"You'd have to pass too close to us now on your way back. If you came back to soon, you'd be risking crossing your own time line."

Jack hung his head. He took Ianto's hand again and brought it to his lips, placing a small kiss on the knuckle.

"It's not like I was just going to leave him. I thought a few days, no more than three. I'd find him like we found you and meanwhile you'd be safe."

"but In a few days he could be anywhere," Ianto reasoned, "he could be sent to a labour camp or sold to another pleasure resort."

"I know. I'm sorry. I missed you so much Ianto. I've just got you back and I didn't want to lose you again so soon, but you're right, I wasn't thinking straight. We can't leave him. I'll go back and get him now but you'll stay here yeah? You'll be safe here until I get back."

Ianto sighed but nodded his agreement.

"Did you really miss me?" he asked.

"You have no idea," Jack smiled, "I was lost without you. At first I thought you were pissed off with me and were off sulking somewhere. For the longest time I kept expecting you to walk back through the door and ask me if I wanted a coffee. Even after Tosh said your tracker wasn't transmitting anymore, I didn't stop believing it. They all gave up hope, one by one but I never did." He pulled Ianto down so that the Welshman landed in his lap, "Well not for a long time anyway. I gave up too towards the end, but I was the last to stop believing you were coming home. Your sister had a funeral you know."

"You had a funeral for me?" Ianto sniggered, "Did you sing hymns and everything?"

"I'm glad you think it's funny," Jack scowled, "I don't know if they sang hymns because I refused to go. Gwen thought I was in denial and kept trying to give me grief counselling. God, she's annoying when she's being all righteous."

"Yeah we noticed." Ianto said, "didn't think you could see any wrong in her though." He hadn't meant it to come out as bitter as it had but hearing Gwen's name had stirred up some bad memories, memories he'd thought long since buried. Jack gave a small humourless laugh.

"I don't even know what I ever saw in her, or if I saw anything. I think she was safe because she wasn't available. I could let myself have feelings for her because she was never going to give up Rhys. I didn't realise until it was too late that it was always you Ianto, not her or anyone else, just you."

Ianto didn't say anything but he bent his head forward, hungrily sliding his lips over Jack's. When he pulled away he rested their foreheads together.

"Go on, Captain," he grinned, "go do your big, damn hero thing so we can all go home."

* * *

John growled as the two men stripped him of his weapons and threw him into a chair. The room was bare apart from a small table in the corner, a larger one in the centre of the floor and two chairs. One of the men sat down in the chair opposite John while the other stood by the door with his hands folded over his chest, forming an immovable barrier between John and the outside world.

"Right, Mr Harrison," the seated man snarled, "if that is your name, you better tell us what happened to your friend."

"And what friend would that be?"

"Don't play clever with me, sir. Your friend, the one you checked in with."

"Oh him, good question, if you see him please give him a good kicking from me. Bastard ran out on me after everything I've done for him. I've spent a fucking fortune on that idiot farm boy and he skips out on me in the middle of the night. Took my wallet too."

"Of course he did. And instead of reporting it, you decided it would be fun to jump out of the fire escape."

"Well, ya know," John grinned, "always did like a dramatic exit."

The man stood up quickly, banging his fists on the table.

"Don't play games, Mr Harrison. That _farm boy _as you put it, has vanished with a very valuable resource belonging to this hotel. If we can't get it back we might have to recuperate our losses some other way." He walked around the table, drawing his eyes over John's body, "I wonder how much we could get for you."

"Ooh, sex slave, sounds like fun."

"Or we could just sell you to the salt mines on Terrellian 4."

John looked up sharply and gulped.

"Ah, I see that's got your attention. Now Mr Whatever your name is how about you tell us what we need to know."

John sat back in the chair and chewed on his thumb nail. He looked at the man for a few moments then looked away and sighed heavily. He nodded, leaning forward across the table and gesturing for the other man to come closer.

"Fuck off and die, arsehole." He growled.

The security guard glared at him.

"Is the best that you can come up with?"

"True, it's not my best work" John shrugged, "but I have been under a lot of strain lately."

* * *

Jack cautiously sidled around the outside of the hotel. Keeping his back close to the wall, he checked his pockets making sure the items he'd brought from the ship were still there. Then he took out his gun and hunkered down behind a skip to wait. After what seemed like several hours but was probably only a few minutes the door opened and a young girl in a maid's uniform stepped out. Jack took in her clothing then looked down at himself and rolled his eyes. He was relieved when an older man, about Jack's height and build and wearing kitchen whites joined her. Jack waited until the woman threw down the end of her cigarette, stomped on it with her high heeled boot and went back inside. As soon as she disappeared, he stepped out from his hiding place, placing a finger over his lips and waving the gun about threateningly.

"I don't want to hurt you," he growled, "but I will if I have to."

The man stared wide eyed at him and nodded.

"Good," Jack said. He pulled him away from the door and further up the alley way. "Now strip."

"Huh?"

"You're clothes," Jack stated, "take them off."

The man looked confused but started taking off his clothes. He shivered in fear as Jack watched him dispassionately.

"Don't worry," Jack grinned, "You're not my type." He paused and looked at him thoughtfully, "what am I saying, look at you, of course you're my type. You're gorgeous."

The kitchen worker smiled despite himself.

"However," Jack went on, "I haven't got time right now. Besides, I'm actually thinking about giving the whole monogamy thing a go. Wow, I can't believe I just said that," he beamed.

The other man coughed and Jack realised that he'd already stripped to his underwear and was waiting patiently to see what was going to happen next.

"Oh, yeah." he shook himself. "Sorry about this," he said, "no hard feelings, yeah?" He indicated with his gun for the man to turn around. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he soaked it with the contents of a bottle he'd taken from another pocket and held it over the man's mouth and nose until he crumpled to the ground. Jack took off his coat and donned the kitchen whites over his own clothes. He then checked the man was breathing, made sure he was comfortable and threw his greatcoat over him before slipping through the kitchen door.

The kitchen was busier than Jack had expected. He hadn't realised that the breakfast preparation started so early in the morning. Luckily everyone seemed to be too wrapped up in their own tasks to notice him as he edged his way over to the door which would take him into the rest of the hotel. He stopped whenever someone passed too close, pretending to look in a cupboard or peer over a pan to avoid looking at them. He made it to the door without incident but stopped dead in his tracks as he came face to face with Ianto's friend, Aaron. Jack froze as Aaron stepped back, white with shock.

"You," he whimpered, "I...." Aaron abruptly came to his senses and started yelling, drawing the attention of the dozen or so kitchen workers, "It's that guy," he shouted, "the one who hit me, the one who took Yanto."

Before Jack had time to react he found himself surrounded and pinned down by a particularly heavily built chef.

* * *

John rolled his eyes and groaned as Jack was dragged in to the room between two men.

"There goes the cavalry," he moaned.

"Careful, fellas," Jack grinned, "wouldn't want to bruise the merchandise."

The security guard stood up and Jack was pushed into the empty chair.

"So, it seems we have the farm boy as well now. Two for the price of one. Now why don't you be sensible and tell us where Yanto is."

"Fucking whore swindled me," Jack snarled, "ran off with my wallet."

"You mean my wallet," John spat.

"Yea, sorry about that Jem," Jack batted his eyelids at him, "Can you forgive me, honey?"

"Of course I forgive you sweetheart."

The security guard shook his head, sighing theatrically. "We're not going to get anywhere with these two clowns," he told the other guard. "Might as well find a way to get our money back out of them. Maybe the management will keep one and sell the other."

"Yea, better use this time to say your goodbyes," his friend sneered, "I doubt you'll be seeing each other again after today."

"Well, I guess this is it," John said sadly, "I'm gonna miss you, Jarred."

"Me too," Jack said. He reached across the table to touch John but the security guard slammed down his fist on the table again, "keep your distance or I'll be forced to tie you up."

Jack leaned back in the chair and looked at John lovingly.

"So many good memories," he said "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Sure I do," John replied, wondering where Jack was going with it. "We met in the academy, in the gymnasium. I was a sophomore and you were a fresher."

"You were in the swimming pool, showing off."

"I do not show off,"

"You do a bit. You we're swimming under water. You were under so long I thought you'd drowned and jumped in to try and save you."

"My hero."

"Except I slipped and lost my footing. You ended up saving me." Jack laughed, "you weren't drowning you were just holding your breath. You were practically a record breaker when it came to holding your breath."

"A skill you managed to make good use of later if I recall." John smirked.

"Tell me about it, we've had some fun haven't we? It's certainly a useful skill" Jack winked, "In fact, it's a skill that might come in handy," he reached into the back of his pants,"right about...." he removed his hand, palming a spherical object about the size of a golf ball, "NOW!" he yelled, slamming the object down on the table. A noxious gas curled up from under his palm and within a couple of seconds both security guards collapsed in a heap. Jack ran outside without looking back but John, still holding his breath, skipped over to the table in the corner and collected his weapons. He thought about kicking one of the unconscious guards but decided that he really needed to breath now. The poisoned air wasn't fatal but it would knock him out for several hours and John wasn't sure whether Jack would come back for him again if it meant carrying his dead weight all the way back to the ship. He found Jack leaning against the hotel wall breathing heavily.

"Outta shape, Captain," he laughed, "and I do _not_ want to know where you where hiding that Althosian gas bomb. Er, where are you going?" Jack was running off in the wrong direction.

"Stay there," the other man shouted over his shoulder, "if you've got time to collect your pistols, I've got time to get my coat back."

John rolled his eyes, affectionately.

_Jack and that damn coat_, he thought.

* * *

As soon as the two men fell laughing through the ship door, Ianto threw himself at them almost knocking them over. He hadn't even noticed in his overwhelming relief to see them that it was John and not Jack who was first through the door and consequently it was John who he was currently squeezing the life out of. Jack watched on, reminded of the way the other two men had greeted each other in the hotel room. This was becoming something of a habit. He coughed loudly and Ianto looked up surprised.

"Uh..... oh, Sorry." He pushed John behind him further into the ship and fell into Jack's open arms.

Jack and Ianto were only vaguely aware of the engines starting and the ship pulling away as they kissed each other. Jack smiled into the kiss and then lifted Ianto up, laughing and yelling in triumph as he swung him around before pulling him into another bone crunching hug.

"Ugh," Ianto pulled away first, waving his hand in front of his nose, "what is that disgusting smell."

"Oh, yeah," Jack replied, "that'd be me. Althosian Nerve Gas. Time for a sonic shower, I think. Care to join me?"

"Sorry," Ianto yawned, "I'd love to but I'm really tired. I'd just like to rest a minute."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jack fussed.

"I'm fine, Jack. Just a bit tired, honestly. Go. You really stink."

Ianto watched Jack go with a dreamy smile on his face. He waited until he heard the shower start up before the smile fell from his face and he rushed over to John, grabbing him by the lapels and physically dragging him from his seat.

"I need something, John" he moaned, "need it real bad. Something Jack can't give me but you could."

John batted the Welshman's hands away.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he huffed.

"Oh, yes you do. I know you do, but just in case you don't I'll come right out and say it. Narcotics, John. You know as well as I do how these places stop the likes of me from running away, you've always known."

"I did," John sighed, "but I had hoped I'd be wrong."

"but you do know where to get the good stuff?" Ianto pleaded.

John thought about it.

"Okay," he said, "say I do know what you're talking about and I know where to get it. What's in it for me?"

Ianto stared at the other man's lips for a moment then lifted his eyes. He cocked his head to one side.

"Oh, I'm sure we could come to some.....arrangement."

John shook his head. "Jack would kill me if he ever found out."

"Oh"Ianto replied, letting his gaze fall back to John's mouth and licking his own lips. "Jack doesn't have to know. I won't tell him if you don't."

John gulped. He nodded once, then leaned in to kiss Ianto. Ianto allowed him to brush their lips together briefly before he pulled back.

"Ah, ah, ah, Captain Hart," he smirked, "get me what I need first and then I'll let you have your reward."


	8. Chapter 8

John held out his hand, palm up.

"Show me," he said, "before Jack gets back."

Ianto placed the leather pouch in John's upturned palm and the former time agent turned it over in his hand. The pouch was actually a roll, John noted, one piece of leather tied up with a bit of string, with variously sized compartments on the underside. He pulled on the string and the knot came undone easily. He unrolled the packet, raising an eye-brow at the contents - a small bottle, a syringe, several needles and a thin leather strip. He frowned in confusion wondering why Ianto was forced to use such primitive methods when hypo-syringes were readily available in this time period.

"Let me see your arm," he said.

Ianto hung his head. He rolled his sleeve up and held out his arm without looking up. A line of needle marks trailed along it, leading from the wrist to the inside of the elbow. The marks stood out in stark contrast to the pale Welsh skin.

"Didn't Jack notice these," John asked, grasping the arm, "In the hotel room, when you were..."

Ianto shrugged.

"Jack only sees what he wants to see."

"Fucking typical," John muttered as he rolled the sleeve back down and let go of the arm. He took the bottle from the pouch and unscrewed the top, holding it up to his nose.

"Hmmm," he said, "smells a little like something I used to use in the old days to wind down, but that hasn't even been invented yet. I'm not sure what it is, but I've got a contact in the 51st Century who could help us identify it. He's a doctor who owes me a favour. We could get him to give you the once over while were there too. Just as a precaution, to make sure you're not carrying anything."

"Thank you," Ianto sniffed, touching John lightly on the arm.

"Don't thank me." John growled, "We both know why I'm doing this. I've wanted you since the first time I stuck a gun in your head in that office block. You were so fucking hot, I came this close to saying fuck the canisters and taking you there and then in the lift. If this is the only way I can have you so be it, but let's not make out what I'm doing is in anyway noble."

Ianto let his arm drop back down to his side and nodded sadly, missing the look on John's face as he put the bottle back in the pouch and slipped it into his pocket.

"Hey, I need that," Ianto cried.

"I know you do," John sympathised, "but we may have to synthesize it and we'll need a sample to do that."

"but..."

John sighed, "Have you been through withdrawal before," he asked.

The younger man nodded.

"The resorts, the people who run them, they're not bad people. Not really, they just have different values. They don't mistreat you but they'll turn their backs on you in a second if you're not profitable. They'll sell you to a trader in the blink of an eye and those traders don't give a damn. They won't pay out for drugs if they don't have to. They give you just enough to take the edge off and keep you hooked but it hurt likes hell and....." Ianto gulped and breathed heavily, looking at John pleadingly. "I can't go through that again."

The former time agent hooked a hand around his neck and pulled him in, holding him in place with an arm around his waist.

"Shh," he whispered, placing a soft kiss on Ianto's forehead, "I can help you with the withdrawal symptoms if you like but you have to trust me. It won't take it away completely but it will help. Do you trust me, Ianto?"

"I suppose."

He lead the younger man over to one of two benches on either side of the ship's passenger area and sat down, patting his lap.

"Lie down" he said.

"You want me to rest my head in your lap?" Ianto scoffed.

"You said you trusted me," he replied, sounding hurt.

Ianto thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. He lay down on his back with his knees bent up and his head resting awkwardly on John's lap.

"Not like that," John huffed. "Relax."

The Welshman groaned but shifted his weight into a more comfortable position, his upper body facing slightly away from the other man and his legs bent at the knees but lying flat on the bench.

"Now, close your eyes," John instructed, resting his palm on his forehead.

Ianto did as he was told and immediately felt an overwhelming sense of peace flooding through him. Everything melted away except for John's overpowering scent and the silky feel of the palm against his forehead. The gentle thrum of the engines lulled him into a restful slumber.

"What is that?" he mumbled, sleepily.

"Shh, just rest, sweetheart."

Before long Ianto gently drifted off and John felt a lump in his throat as he tenderly stroked the Welshman's hair and watched him sleeping. Even after everything the boy had been through he was so fucking innocent. John knew he was a piece of work for taking advantage of it, but he wasn't going to let that stop him he thought bitterly.

Jack scowled when he came out of the shower room a few moments later and found them like that.

"What the fuck is going on," he growled.

"Hush, you'll wake him." John scolded, "He's sick Jack. Ianto is sick. He needs to see a doctor."

* * *

Ianto held on tightly to Jack as the ship dissolved around them.

"You okay?" the immortal asked.

"Hmmm," Ianto replied distractedly, taking in their new surroundings. The sterile, pinkish walls, wooden floors and faint disinfectant smell told him they had transported to the hospital where John's doctor friend worked. He marvelled at how some things never change. Even in the 51st Century a hospital was still a hospital.

"I said are you okay?" Jack asked again.

"Oh, yeah, just amazed at how nothing changes. This looks like any hospital in the 21st Century. We could be standing in Cardiff Royal right now."

As he was speaking a man wearing pyjama bottoms and a dressing gown waddled past. He was about Ianto's age and height and was sporting a scruffy beard and long blond hair tied back in a ponytail. He was also heavily pregnant.

"Okay," Ianto grinned, "maybe not."

"Right," John said, "I'm going to go and find us a coffee while you two check in." He winked at Ianto and when he was sure Jack wasn't looking, he patted the pocket where he had stashed the gear. Ianto smiled at him and mouthed "thank you." He felt an enormous sense of relief. The last three days had been better than he had expected, thanks to John's ministrations but it had still been difficult. Convincing Jack he was ill hadn't been that hard since he had felt terrible most of the time. The rats had been gnawing at his stomach again and he hadn't eaten in days. He shivered.

"Are you sure you are okay," Jack asked.

"I will be," he smiled happily. Although the rats were still there, they were quiet for the moment and Ianto felt almost euphoric with the knowledge that they could be gone for ever by the morning.

A male nurse wearing blue scrubs approached them.

"Ah, you must be Mr Jones," the nurse said. "We've been expecting you. Won't you come with me?"

He smiled, the kind of smile that only professional health care workers seem to be able to do. The one that says everything is fine, nothing bad is about to happen.

Ianto felt Jack's hand in the small of his back as the two of them followed the nurse into a side room. Like the rest of the hospital, the room looked much liked you would expect a hospital room to look, baring a few small bits of equipment which Ianto didn't recognise. He sat on the bed while the nurse showed him the bathroom and told them about mealtimes and visitors. Ianto wasn't really listening as he bounced up and down on the bed.

"Oh, that's okay," he grinned, "I'm not staying. Once I've seen the doctor I can go."

The nurse smiled tightly and nodded. He looked at Jack who looked away and sighed.

"What?" Ianto asked.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Ianto frowned, "What are you sorry for?" He shrugged, looking at Jack questioningly. His gaze shifted to the doorway as John appeared.

"John?" Ianto asked him, "what does he mean, what is he sorry for?"

John rubbed the back of his neck and leaned against the door jam.

"Please understand," he said, "it's for your own good."

Ianto's eyes widened as he stared at John.

"Oh god. No, no, no, no," he moaned.

He made a dash for it but John tackled him and dragged back to the bed. As John firmly held him in place, he kicked out and looked around wildly, his eyes alighting on the nurse who was preparing a syringe. He managed to break one arm free, grabbing hold of the man's tee-shirt and yelling at him.

"Please, you've got to help me," he begged, "these men.....I," he gulped, "I have no idea who they are. They kidnapped me. I've got to get back."

The nurse looked down at the hand fisting his top, then looked up at the two men. His eyes narrowed.

"A little help here gents."

Jack walked around the bed and pulled Ianto's hand away, holding it face up on the bed. Ianto struggled briefly but then the fight seemed to go out of him and he gave a huge heaving sob as he let himself go limp.

As the hypo-syringe pierced his arm, Ianto felt light headed. He closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed for the final time was John's face leaning over him, a silent tear running down the older man's cheek. He glared at him.

"I trusted you," he whimpered.


	9. Chapter 9

Jack staggered into the corridor and collapsed on to a hard plastic chair, slumping forward and holding his head in his hands. He felt utterly shattered and barely registered when John came and sat down beside him.

"He'll be okay," his friend assured him.

He stayed hunched forward but turned his head to the side to look at the other man.

"Did you hear?" he moaned, "did you hear what he said. He'd rather go back there, to that place, than come home with me."

"No," John shook his head, "That's just the drugs talking. When it takes a hold of you, you'll do anything for a fix. Back when I was using I would have sold my own kids to get high."

The immortal hitched a small laugh.

"How are Kyla and Jake?" he asked.

John didn't reply but shrugged his shoulders gloomily.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

"I haven't seen them for over a year. Their Mom won't let me anywhere near them, says it upsets them too much."

Jack wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close, kissing the top of his head while the two men shared a moment or two of silence.

"What about you," John said, pulling away, "I never asked before, Do you have children now?"

"Just the one, as far as I know. A daughter named Mellisa. At least she was Mellisa, but I have to call her Alice now. Long story. She has a son called Stephen but he doesn't know who I am; he thinks I'm her brother. I try to see them when I can but I don't think she wants me around. I'm expecting any day now she'll tell me not to come back."

"Does Ianto know about her?"

"God, no. Alice is 15 years older than him, I don't want to freak him out."

"Um, he's with an immortal man from the 51st Century who is over 150 years old. I don't think he could be any more freaked out."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Jack grinned, "If we get through this, I'll tell him. By the way why are we here?"

"What do you mean? we're here for Ianto, of course?"

"No I mean why here. It's not that I don't trust your judgment; I just wondered why here and not some other facility."

Before John could reply the door at the end of the corridor opened and a man with fair hair and piercing blue eyes stepped through it.

"This is why we're here," he said, nodding towards the newcomer.

"Jamal!" The man grinned, grabbing hold of his hand and shaking it vigorously, "it's good to see you. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Dr Henderson, but it's John now."

"Ah yes of course, John, and who's this?"

"Jack, he's the partner of the young man I told you about. Jack, this is Doctor Henderson. He saved my life."

"Oh, Come now."

"It's true," John insisted. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. Dr Henderson is a Rehab Doctor, he runs the only rehab program that's ever stuck with me. That's why I've brought Ianto here. If he can cure me he can cure anyone."

"I will do my best," the doctor said, turning his attention to the immortal, "but despite what John says, it's really up to Ianto and it won't be easy. He'll probably be very angry for a while. After what was left of the Time Agency dumped John on me he was furious for the first six months."

"Six months," Jack gasped. "I didn't think we'd be here that long."

"Well, John was a particularly bad case," he said, touching the former time agent on the shoulder, "hopefully your friend won't be as bad as that." He gave them a reassuring smile. "Try not to worry. The sooner we get started, the sooner we'll know what we're up against."

* * *

Ianto lay perfectly still and cracked open one eye, surreptitiously checking out his surroundings. It was a habit he had picked up from childhood. Growing up with a violent, alcoholic father had taught him to always see how the land lied before alerting anyone else to his state of wakefulness, risking a further beating just for being alive. His nose had already picked up Jack's familiar scent over the faint antiseptic smell, so he wasn't surprised to see his lover slumped over in a chair beside the bed. He gently lifted the sheet, noting that he was wearing thin pyjama bottoms and a tee-shirt. As quietly as he could he slipped out from under the covers, holding his breath when Jack appeared to stir and only continuing when he was sure the other man wasn't going to wake up. He looked around the room, trying to locate his shoes and clothes, and finding them in a locker by his bed, he gathered them up in his arms and tiptoed barefoot towards the door.

"Going somewhere Ianto?"

Ianto sighed. He turned around, dropped the clothes on an empty chair and climbed back into bed, pulling the covers over his head.

"Where did you think you were going anyway?" Jack asked him gently. He put his hand on the younger man's shoulder, "there's no where to go and you have no credits."

"Where's John?" Ianto mumbled, shucking the hand away.

"He's taken a job, said he'd be back in a week or so. We need the money since we don't have any local currency and we spent quite a bit finding you."

"He's hiding out, more like," Ianto scoffed, "doesn't want to face me, the bastard."

He got out of bed and went over to the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it behind him.

After a few minutes Jack knocked on the door.

"Ianto, please. Come on out."

"I'm having a fucking slash, piss off."

"Since when have you been so crude," Jack frowned.

"Oh, I dunno," Ianto replied, unlocking the door and flashing Jack an evil leer, "the customers seemed to like it."

Jack tightened his jaw and looked away.

"What?" Ianto snarled.

"I just don't like thinking of you.....you know, with other people."

"Yeah?.......Hurts doesn't it."

"Ianto, I never......"

"Don't bother," the younger man interrupted, "I've heard it all before and I'm not interested anymore so why don't you just piss off and leave me alone."

"Ianto..."

"I SAID FUCK OFF!"

* * *

A week later, Jack was steeling himself outside Ianto's room, one hand on the door handle. He was never sure what he was going to find when he visited. Sometimes his young lover would be weeping and crying in a state of overwhelming grief and other times he'd be a furious ball of pent-up rage and angst, and on top of it all he'd usually be begging and pleading for something to take away the pain. Yesterday had been a particularly bad day because Ianto was refusing to either eat or keep his IV lines in and the nurse had threatened him with force feeding. Jack had had his own emotional outburst yelling for someone to do something and Dr Henderson had to be called. He had calmed everyone down, explaining that the young man needed to reach rock bottom before they could start building him up again.

Jack took a deep breath. He opened the door...and immediately closed it again when a glass jug flew through the air at him. The jug exploded on the other side of the door and he carefully cracked it open once more, sticking his head into the room.

"Fuck off, I don't want to see you today."

Ignoring the young Welshman, Jack moved further into the room, the glass crunching under his booted feet as he walked over it. He stepped back into the corridor and called to a passing nurse to send someone to clean it up. He sat down in the chair by Ianto's bed and the younger man huffed, turning his back on him while he kept up a one sided conversation.

"Just shut up. For Fuck's sake just shut up," Ianto yelled.

"Sorry, I just....."

"Take me home," Ianto pleaded.

"I can't, not yet. You might not think so but this is the best place for you at the moment."

The Welshman sat up and folded his arms across his chest in a strop.

"You're ashamed of me," he sniffed.

"No, why would you think that."

"You're going to keep me here forever. I was better off on Terrellian. At least I could leave my room there."

"You can leave your room if you want and you're not going to be here forever, only until you're better."

"I'm fine."

"You're not."

Ianto huffed again and an uncomfortable silence hung over them.

"Knock, knock," someone said from the doorway.

"Thank god you're back. I was getting tired of talking to myself." Jack said.

John stepped tentatively into the room.

"How are you, Ianto," he asked.

The younger man looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, "It hurts," he whimpered.

"Do you want me to help?"

Ianto pouted and John felt a surge of affection, struck by how young he looked. The boy nodded sadly and the former time agent looked at Jack, making a small movement of his head towards the door. Jack folded his arms and glared back refusing to move, causing John to raise an eyebrow at him. After a few moments, the immortal relented, sighing heavily as he stood up.

"Fine," he growled, "I was going to get a coffee anyway."

* * *

Things improved very quickly once John was back. The petulant side of Jack was irked that it wasn't him that had brought about the miraculous recovery, but the realistic side was pleased that John's special skill was helping the young Welshman. Ianto was much less angry with everyone now and everyday he got a little bit stronger. They'd even shared a few hesitant kisses. Dr Henderson had started therapy sessions and Jack was hopeful that they could take him home soon. However one thing bothered him, it was just that he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

"Hey, Ianto," he kissed him on the forehead.

"Where's John?"

"He'll be along in a minute. Chatting to some young nurse in the corridor."

"Oh," Ianto looked disappointed.

"Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. How's things in the outside world."

Jack smiled gently at him.

"You do know," he said, "that bringing you here was the right thing to do. John and I just want you to be well."

"Yeah, I know that now. I was angry at first but I know you only want what's best for me. On the estate, where I grew up, a lot of my friends ended up on drugs. I swore that would never happen to me."

"It wasn't your fault, Ianto."

"I know."

"Hey," John walked in waving a bit of paper, "got that cute nurse's phone number," he beamed.

Ianto's bottom lip quivered as he watched the paper flapping about and Jack thought he saw something strange pass across his face. He stared at his young lover, frowning as the cog wheels in his brain started to slowly whir. Something about the way Ianto looked at that bit of paper hinted at what had been bothering him ever since John had returned from his last Job. All at once, as Jack watched the little scene play out, the final cog clicked into place. He threw himself out of the chair so violently that it fell over clattering on the wooden floor. A low guttural sound escaped his lips and he stabbed at John with an accusing finger.

"You bastard..." he growled.

"Wait, Jack. I didn't. It's not..."

"You've bonded with him haven't you? You bastard, you've fucking bonded with him."


	10. Chapter 10

"John, what does he mean?"

"Yeah, John" Jack snarled sarcastically, "Why don't you tell Ianto what I mean."

"It's not like that."

"Yes it is, you forced yourself on him."

"NO!" John yelled, "I can't force someone to fall in love with me. If I could do you think I would ever have let you go."

"What the hell," Ianto sputtered, "Fall in love with you, what are you talking about?"

John sat down on the bed and took the younger man's hand in his, ignoring Jack's angry growl when he did.

"The thing is Ianto," he said, "I'm not 100% human. My grandmother on my mother's side was from Leonis b."

"Never heard of it."

"No, you won't have. It's hundreds of light years from earth and hasn't been discovered in your time. Anyway the thing about Leonis b is its inhabitants are telepathic."

"So you're a telepath?"

"No I'm not, not exactly. Of all my brothers and sisters I was the only one who inherited any psychic ability from our Grandmother, and it wasn't telepathy but empathy. I can detect basic emotions. For example," he smiled humourlessly, "I don't have to turn around to feel Jack's eyes boring a hole in my back."

Jack guffawed roughly.

"and from you" John went on, "I'm getting confusion, and maybe a little fear."

"Maybe a little," Ianto smiled.

"I'm also able to transmit emotions to other people," he continued, "but I have to have physical contact for that and I can't make people feel things against their will. It's more like sending someone positive thoughts, they have to be open to it."

"That's what you were doing," Ianto said, "when you were helping me with the withdrawal symptoms, sending me positive thoughts. I sort of guessed it was something like that anyway. It felt like you were surrounding me in a blanket of....." he struggled to find the right word, "warmth or calm, I suppose. Whatever it was it felt good. But why is Jack angry about that now, he knew what you were doing?"

"Right," John let go of Ianto's hand, "This isn't going to be easy to explain," he said, "Um, my grandmother's people have an unusual mating ritual. When they meet someone they like they send out a sort of telepathic mating call, often it happens subconsciously but if the other person likes them back they emit a response. It's really quite beautiful, like a glorious extrasensory sympathy which resonates in their separate psyches or like two souls......"

Jack curled his lip and snarled loudly.

"Yes, well," John glared at him, "the point is, if the song is allowed to continue to its logical conclusion and it's what both parties want, then a connection is formed. That's what they call the bond."

"Ah," Ianto said. His brow furrowed momentarily before his head shot up and his eyes widened. "Oh!"

"You have to understand," John said, "I'm telling you the truth when I say I didn't mean for it to happen. I can't lie to you now."

"Mmm, Okay."

"No, I mean it. I literally can't lie to you."

"Okay, I get it. You can't lie to me."

"When I started helping you with your treatment, there were a few things I didn't bank on. Firstly, I hadn't realised how much I cared for you. I knew I had a bit of a thing for you, but I hadn't realised how deep it ran. I wasn't consciously sending you the mating signal, it just happened. Even after I knew it was happening, I thought it was okay because I didn't know you were empathic too. It was killing me but I thought I could cope with loving you from afar."

"But I don't have any empathic ability," Ianto interrupted, "I was tested at Torchwood One. We all were. I scored below average in all my psychic tests."

"You still have such faith in one don't you Ianto?" Jack said, "I didn't even need any futile test to let me know you were empathic. It shines out from you in everything you do. Every time you have to deal with a new rift victim on Flat Holm or talk to someone who witnessed a weevil attack or the way you used to bring me a chocolate biscuit with my coffee whenever I thought I was having a bad day."

"But even if we accept that you are empathic," John continued, "it still wouldn't have mattered if it wasn't for the third thing. Despite what Jack said before, I can't force someone to fall in love with me. I've never bonded with him even though he's a bit empathic too because he's never felt the same way about me as I did about him. You do understand what I'm saying Eye-Candy?"

Ianto looked up and caught Jack's eye. The immortal stood stoically at the foot of his bed, arms folded across his chest. He wondered whether it was something in the man's stance or if it was his newly discovered empathic ability that told him how betrayed Jack was feeling.

He looked away, hanging his head in shame.

"Yes," he croaked. "I know what you're saying. I guess I must have feelings for you too." He lifted his eyes to meet John's, catching his breath at what he saw there. Suddenly, as if a veil had been lifted, he realised it had always been there, a love which burned brightly and burned only for him. "'I love you," he whispered.

John wrapped his arms around him, "I love you too," he smiled into Ianto's hair. The Welshman started to sob and Jack moved to the head of the bed, placing his hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"I want you gone John," he growled.

"N..N..no," Ianto hiccupped between sobs.

"Don't worry, Ianto," John said, glaring at Jack. "He can't send me away. His rift manipulator is broken and without me he has no way of getting you home."

"Oh yeah," Jack sneered, "I'll get it fixed. Or we'll hitch a lift. Or we'll settle here. I don't care I just want you out of our lives."

"What if I don't want him to go," Ianto protested.

"I won't share you, Ianto. Not with him or anyone."

"What is you always said, Jack. Monogamy isn't the norm where you're from."

"Oh wait," he continued in mock surprise, "was that just an excuse so you could sleep around?"

"No. I mean. Okay, yes but I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I didn't know how I felt about you then."

"And how _do_ you feel about me Jack."

"I......"

The silence hung heavy. Jack looked away. His voice cracked when he tried to continue, "I........"

Ianto sighed. "I don't want John to go," he announced. His eyes flashed with anger, "I want you to go."

Jack felt his world spin on its axis, he rocked backwards on his heels, pulling his hand away as if he had been stung. He reached out for the bedstead for support and wavered a little, biting his top lip in an effort to rein in his emotions. Finally, he smiled, pulled himself together and nodded sadly. With that he turned and walked away.


	11. Chapter 11

"Jack, Wait!"

The immortal spun around angrily.

"Why should I John," he snapped, "Why should I stick around and watch you two make your beautiful music together? What were you thinking? That I'd help you pick out curtains or play Uncle Jack to your adopted Peruvian orphans?"

"Oh stop it, do you know how annoyingly, childish you are?"

"No. Do _you_ know how childishly, annoying _you_ are?"

John pointedly ignored the retort and turned his attention to the young Welshman.

"Ianto," he said, "as much as I would love to have you all to myself, we can't send him out there alone. He'd be lost without someone to look after him. He can't even keep himself clean or wash his own clothes. Give him a week and he'll be wearing a welcome mat for a nappy."

"Hey, I've been alone before," Jack snapped.

"Yes we know. Satellite 5, blah, blah, blah. Tell me, do they have welcome mats there?"

Jack's lips twitched slightly, "Not anymore," he deadpanned.

Ianto let out a guffaw, throwing his hand up to his mouth in surprise when it ended in a loud snort. He looked so comical that Jack started laughing too. Even John struggled to hide a smirk, though not before giving them both a particularly sardonic eye-roll.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Ianto said, turning serious, "I was angry. I don't really want you to go."

"And I don't want to go but we can go on like this."

"I don't see why not. If I'd have suggested it a few years ago you would have jumped at the chance of a threesome with John."

"Probably," The immortal agreed with a shy smile, "but threesomes are about sex, not love. There's too much emotional baggage. Right now, I'll kill him if he even looks at you the wrong way."

John, who had been gazing dreamily at the man in question, sat up and looked away, clearing this throat awkwardly.

"I don't know what to do?" Ianto whined.

John sighed.

"The way I see it," he said, "there's only one solution."

He hoped they'd make some kind of protest, even if it was a half hearted one but they both stayed resolutely silent. He gave them a sad, tight lipped smile.

"Give us a minute, Jack," he pleaded.

When the older man hesitated, John turned on him angrily,

"For the love of all that is holy," he yelled, "show some compassion, man."

The immortal stood up lazily and snapped, "five minutes" in response before leaving the room.

John reached up and brushed a stray bit of fringe from Ianto's face.

"Why do we let him do this to us?" he said.

"We love him, I guess," the younger man shrugged. "Like you said he needs someone."

"He'll never say it back, you know?"

"I know."

He rested their foreheads together, running his fingers through the short, stubbly hair on the back of Ianto's neck.

"I've never even kissed you properly."

"You could kiss me now," Ianto gulped, "I mean if you want to."

John pushed their lips together and knowing it would probably be their first and last kiss, he poured everything he had into the kiss, pushing out at Ianto with all his pent up emotions. Ianto felt a familiar warming sensation flooding through his body but now he recognised it for what it was and it was both beautiful and terrible. For a moment he didn't know where he began and his bond partner ended and as they wrapped their bodies together in an exquisite melody, he felt his breath catch in his throat.

When they pulled apart they rested their foreheads together again.

"What will happen to us? To the bond I mean?" Ianto asked.

"It'll hurt at first. Like losing an arm or a leg but eventually it will fade and get better. You'll forget about me."

"I'll never forget you."

"No," John smiled, "I won't forget you either. I love you."

"I love you too," Ianto whispered, gazing at the other man through watery eyes.

John placed a hand on either side of his head and pressed one last kiss to his forehead, then he turned and walked away without looking back. When he passed Jack in the corridor, he growled at him.

"Hurt him and I'll kill you," he snapped.

"He won't get hurt."

The former time agent pressed a button on his wrist strap, stopping in front of the open portal and turning around to glare at the other man.

"We both know that's unlikely, Captain Harkness," he growled, before stepping into the portal.

* * *

A few weeks after John's departure, Jack bounded into Ianto's room and gave him a hug,

"So," he grinned, "The doctor says we can go home."

"That's good," Ianto sighed

"Okay. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," the other man snapped, "why should anything be wrong."

Jack turned away from the bed, blowing out a breath and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's John, isn't it?"

"I can't help how I feel."

"I know. It's just.......this isn't how I thought things would turn out."

"Oh Yeah," Ianto huffed, crossing his arms across his chest, "because my life turned out exactly how I expected. In fact, in school I was voted person most likely to be kidnapped by 32nd Century slave traders."

Jack gave a little sigh.

"I guess things don't always turn out how you expect. I thought I was going to ride in on my white charger, rescue you from the evil overlords and sweep you off your feet."

"You did sweep me off my feet. Look, Jack, you know how I feel about you. The way I feel about John doesn't change that. In any case, I made my decision and I chose you. I miss him but I'll get over it."

Jack sat down on the bed and swung his feet up, pulling Ianto into a hug so that the younger man's head rested on his shoulder.

"I know I'm too possessive," he said, "I'm spoilt and selfish and if you had any sense you'd run from me as fast as you can. You should have chosen John. He could have given you a normal life, well normalish anyway. I'm a poor excuse for a boyfriend."

Ianto lifted his head and Jack pulled away slightly so that he could look into his eyes.

"I chose you, Captain," the younger man reiterated, "Okay?"

Jack smiled and planted a kiss on his lips before he dropped his head back down on to the immortal's shoulder. The two men lay together in silence for a few minutes.

"So," Ianto grinned, "Boyfriend , eh?"

* * *

Ianto smiled, turning his body this way and that as he studied his reflection in the bathroom mirror. The outfit Jack had picked out for him wasn't his his usual style but the young Welshman assumed it was right for the period. The purple silk shirt had no fastenings but was open at the neck, slipping comfortably over his head. It was loose fitting and when tucked into the skinny jeans it billowed over the top of the waistband like a blouson. The outfit was complimented by a black waistcoat which he wore unbuttoned, giving the whole ensemble a pirate punk effect. It was a combination he would have considered far too flamboyant for a valley's boy but he was miles (and years) from home, so what did it matter if his old school friends wouldn't approve.

"Wow," Jack grinned, popping his head around the door and practically drooling, "you look...."

"Thanks," Ianto smiled back, "By the way, where are you taking me?" he asked.

"Huh?" the immortal said, his eyes drawn to Ianto's mid section.

"Um, Jack. I'm up here."

"Oh," Jack shook his head, "Sorry. What did you say?"

"I said where are you taking me? I know we can't go back to Cardiff."

Jack placed a hand on his arm and rubbed it up and down gently.

"Come on," he said. "I've got a plan. I think you're gonna like it."

* * *

Ianto felt a pang of trepidation as he stepped out of the hospital. Since the day he'd been kidnapped from the streets of his home town, he'd seen things beyond his wildest imagination. He'd experienced cultures and belief systems that seemed astounding even to him. However, he hadn't seen much beyond the confines of the pleasure resorts on Terrellian and he didn't even know which planet he was currently on.

His mouth dropped open as he took in the buildings surrounding the hospital, turning around on the spot as he stared incredulously.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I dunno," Ianto gasped, "I just thought the future would be a little more......futuristic. You know, tall shiny buildings, robots on every street corner.....hover cars."

"Ha," Jack barked out a laugh, "Hover cars. Really?"

The Welshman blushed furiously, smiling apologetically.

"Cars of any kind have been obsolete for centuries," Jack continued, "The only place you'll find one these days is in a museum. Most people get around by ship or by using a transportation device like our wrist straps. As for robots, well, let's just say the concept lost its appeal after the Android Wars."

"Android Wars?" Ianto asked.

"Yeah," the other man replied, "all human children of this time learn about the Android Wars. When the machines achieved sentience it was only a matter of time before they turned on their masters. They almost wiped out the human race and would have succeeded if it wasn't for the resistance. The robots even started sending droids back in time, trying to assassinate the mother of the resistance leader so that he would never be born, and when that didn't work......."

Jack stopped midflow. Ianto was standing in the middle of the street with his hands on his hips, glaring at him.

"What?"

The younger man rolled his eyes.

"That's the plot of Terminator, you idiot!" he said.

"Really?" Jack said, sounding surprised, "They made a movie about the Android Wars?"

Ianto narrowed his eyes and stared at him thoughtfully. Finally he sighed, throwing his hands up in a gesture which said, '_whatever_.'

"I never know when you're joking."

"Never mind that now," Jack grabbed his hand and dragged him up the street, "I've bagged us a ride. We're meeting him in a cafe just around the corner."

"You still haven't told me where were going yet."

"It's a surprise. Don't worry you'll love it."

* * *

"What'll you have?" Jack asked, holding the cafe door open for the younger man.

"What's the coffee like in the future," he asked, "That stuff in the hospital was vile. Is all coffee that bad now."

"Ah," Jack looked sheepish, "I'm afraid it is. It seems the only place in the Universe where coffee can grow successfully is Earth. They've tried all kinds of substitutes but nothing comes close."

Ianto's eyes widened in shock.

"N..No, C...Coffee," he stuttered, "Oh god, please say we can go back. It doesn't have to be all the way back to the 21st Century but please say we can go back to somewhere where I can get a decent cup of coffee."

"Hey," Jack pulled out a chair, gesturing for Ianto to sit. "I promise, okay. I'll get you home."

He sat down opposite the other man, facing the plate glass window at the front of the shop.

"In fact, here comes our ride now." He nodded over Ianto's shoulder.

The Welshman turned around, and then quickly turned back, his mouth dropping open as he looked at Jack questioningly. Jack bobbed his head to the side, raising his eyebrows slightly. The questioning look on Ianto's face gradually morphed into a beaming smile and the immortal's throat constricted. Ianto had many smiles. One of Jack's favourites was the shy smirk that accompanied his clumsy attempts at innuendo, "_You know I've still got that stopwatch if you're interested." _But this smile was breathtaking and Jack felt as if he was basking in the light of a thousand suns.

"Go on, tiger," he grinned back.

Ianto jumped out of his seat, leaping out the door and throwing his arms around the newcomer. Jack felt hot tears pricking at his eyes as he watched John lift him off his feet and spin him around. He prayed that he'd have the strength to do the right thing by all of them. He swallowed any lingering doubts as the two men walked through the door hand in hand.

"What made you change your mind?" Ianto asked.

"You, mainly," Jack answered, "What you said about how you feel about him," he tried not to sound too bitter as his eyes flicked up to the ex Time Agent, "not affecting how you feel about me. I know you've been trying to hide it from me but I'm not so blind that I can't see you're finding it hard without John around. Breaking a telepathic bond hurts and I don't want you to suffer even if it means I have to suffer."

Ianto felt a fluttering in his chest as he looked at Jack. He gave John's hand a squeeze then let it go, using the same hand to stroke the immortal's cheek.

"Thank you," he croaked, choking back a sob.

Jack leaned into the touch.

"I don't expect the three of us to ride off into the sunset together. We'll have to sit down and bash out some rules about how this is going to work, and I'd still like you to choose when you're ready. But let's get home first and then we can talk about everything. Now John, where did you leave the ship?"

The former Time Agent looked a little uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he hummed and ha'ed.

"Ah, about that," he squirmed.


	12. Chapter 12

"What the fuck," Jack yelled, "of all the stupid, idiotic, hare-brained things to do. What were you thinking?"

"Hey," John protested, "It wasn't my fault. How was I supposed to know they were cheating?"

"Not your fault," Jack spluttered, "Not your fucking fault. How is not your fault? You lost the ship in a card game. He turned to the young Welshman, "surely you can see now why you can't choose him. The man's a lunatic."

"That's not fair," yelled John, "Stop slagging me off in front of Eye-candy. Shouldn't that be rule number one."

"I wasn't slagging you off. I was just pointing out why he shouldn't choose you."

"Well if we're just pointing things out," John sneered, "maybe I should list all the reason why you're not good boyfriend material, maybe I should tell him about the time..."

"Shut up!" Ianto bellowed, "just shut up both of you and please tell me we can get home using John's wrist strap thingy."

The two former Time Agents glared at each other.

"We can," Jack snarled, not taking his eyes from John's, "but it's not that easy. We've only got one working vortex manipulator. We can travel through space with my wrist strap but only John's can open a portal in time and it isn't really meant for three people. We could do it in two runs, John could take you first and come back for me, but I don't trust him. He'd tell you he came back and couldn't find me or I didn't want to come or something."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Yes, you would if it meant you could have him to yourself. We all know how ruthless you can be if you want something badly enough."

"That was the old me," John sighed, "are you ever going to learn to trust me again."

"Whadda ya mean, again?" Jack growled, "I've never trusted you."

John crossed his hands over his chest,

"Oh, you wound me, Captain," he joked.

Jack looked angrily at him and shook his head.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. I think I can make some adjustments to my wrist strap so that we can use it to increase the size of the portal, make it big enough for three people. It will take a few weeks to calibrate the modifications though."

"Ah," John interjected, "okay, but we might have to hide out somewhere quiet while you do it."

Jack groaned.

"Don't worry," John assured him, "there's every chance they didn't call the authorities."

"Who didn't...? Oh never mind, I really don't want to know..." _At least Ianto will get to see what he's like now, _Jack thought, _he'll never choose hi.....Oh fuck. _Ianto was gazing wistfully at John with a huge grin on his face.

"I bet it's really exciting hanging with you," he laughed, dipping his head towards the former Time Agent.

John grabbed him around the waist, "You better believe it, sweetheart," he slurred. Ianto giggled at the perfect impersonation of a 1920's gangster and the two men shared a look which made Jack's nerves twang.

"Ahem," he barked, "Rule number 2, no gratuitous flirting."

"Oh," Ianto pulled away from John, blushing furiously.

"Ya know," Jack grinned, "you look so cute when you're embarrassed."

John folded his arms and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

"Gratuitous flirting, Captain," he snapped.

The Welshman rolled his eyes.

"This could go on all day," he sighed, "how about we find somewhere quiet to lie low like John says, and then you can make those adjustments you were talking about."

"Fine by me,"

Jack grabbed hold of John's wrist, punching the coordinates into his manipulator. Before anyone could protest, he took Ianto's hand, punched the same coordinates into his own wrist strap and disappeared with him. John tutted before following them.

* * *

As soon as Ianto's world stopped spinning, he dropped to the ground, his knees sinking into the soft sand beneath him.

"Whoa," Jack laughed, "easy there, Tiger."

John appeared as Ianto was staggering to a standing position, leaning on the immortal for support. He rushed over to them and put his arm around the young Welshman.

"Are you okay?" he worried.

"Thanks," Ianto gasped, breathing heavily, "I'm fine. Phew, that was....." he looked around him, "Oh," he said, "I thought we couldn't travel in time, why have you brought us somewhere prehistoric."

John barked out a laugh which Ianto ignored.

"I mean, it's a bit bleak isn't it? I thought Cardiff was bad but this is worse. There's nothing here but sand, and," he sniffed distastefully, "it smells funny."

John fell on the floor in a fit of giggles, gasping for breath.

"It's not that funny," Jack snarked.

"Oh, yes it is," John laughed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, "it's fucking hilarious. The first time you bring anyone home since..well, me. And he thinks it's....oh dear," he wheezed desperately clutching at his sides, "he thinks it's prehistoric. And it..... stinks."

"H, home," Ianto stammered, "this is where you grew up."

Jack glared at both of them. He stuck his nose in the air haughtily,

"Yes it is," he sulked, "I _was_ going to show you all my childhood haunts but since you think it stinks I won't bother." He stalked away, climbing a nearby sand dune and disappearing over the top of it.

"Jack wait up," Ianto called after him, "Jaa-ack, I'm sorry, come back please. It's not that bad. It's kinda......quaint?" he added hopefully.

John collapsed on to his side, rolling about in the sand and laughing uncontrollably.

* * *

When Ianto reached the top of the sand dune, he stopped dead at the sight before him. Below, nestled among the sand dunes and the palm trees was a tiny flat, roofed house, of the kind from the biblical epics he used to watch with his grandmother on Sunday afternoons. In front of the house was a woman wearing a long hessian skirt and resting a laundry basket on her hip. As Ianto watched, the women dropped the basket, rushing towards Jack and throwing her arms around him. Ianto felt as if he was intruding on a private moment and he turned his back, dropping down below the level of the sand dune's peak. He smiled at John as the former Time Agent flopped on to the sand next to him.

"How's the big reunion with Mama Hunter going."

"Who?"

"Jack's Mom," John explained.

"That's Jack's Mam?"

"This is Jack's home. Who do you think it would be?"

"I can't believe Jack grew up in a place like this. I thought _my_ family were dirt poor but he had less than I did. It's no wonder he's always so impressed by 21st Century technology. The first time I showed him my ipod I thought he was going to have an orgasm over it. It always struck me as odd but now I understand, it's because he had no technology growing up."

John put his arm around his shoulder.

"Jack had nothing," he said, "his parents were part of a group of people who believed in living simply without technology. A bit like the Amish people of your time."

"Jack's Amish?" Ianto grinned.

"Sort of, yeah."

"Maybe we should...." he nodded over the top of the sand dune.

"Nah," John responded, "best leave them for a bit. Jack's emotions are all over the place."

"How do you kn....Oh yeah, of course. I forgot for a minute."

John took the Welshman's hand and brought it up to his lips. He ran his thumb over the knuckles and pressed their heads together. The younger man sighed happily.

"You can feel that," John smiled.

"Yeah. It's like...............you're in my head. I can't hear your thoughts but I can feel you."

"This place always brings out mixed emotions for Jack. Before the monsters came he and Grey had an idyllic childhood. He used to talk about this place all the time, about what it was like growing up here. The games he used to play with Grey and his Dad. His Dad was a good man by all accounts, unlike my father.........or yours."

"I've never told you anything about my Dad."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry but I can feel it, the emotions you associate with the word."

"Oh," Ianto said, sadly, "Yeah. He was a drunk and a bully and I don't like to talk about it."

"I once heard you talking to that pretty PC about how he used to take you to the movies on Saturday mornings."

Ianto laughed bitterly.

"Lies," he stated simply, "my Dad never took me anywhere. Well, that's not true; he once took me to the park and pushed me off the swing. He broke my leg."

"My Dad used to beat me too. When he turned on my little sisters I couldn't stand it anymore."

"What did you do?"

"I shot him."

"Ha," Ianto laughed.

"You're not shocked?"

"Nah, I wish I had the guts to do it. What happened to you?"

"I was 12 years old. They put me in a special prison for children. I was 19 before they let me out again."

Ianto turned his face towards the former Time Agent and John's breath caught in his throat. The wave of love and compassion he felt directed at him was almost too much. Without breaking eye contact, the young Welshman slowly leaned in and placed a kiss on the older man's lips. Their lips stuck together as they pulled apart and Ianto licked his before leaning in again. John pulled himself onto his knees and used his body weight to push the younger man on to his back. Ianto's hips bucked as John climbed on top of him.

"Rule number 3!"

Ianto jerked in surprise at the sound of Jack's voice, scrambling backwards in an attempt to shove John off. John refused to move, resting his forehead on the Welshman's chest and groaning in frustration.

"Okay, I haven't worked out rule number three yet," Jack went on, "but when I do" he kicked the former Time Agent, pushing him off Ianto and sending him rolling a few feet down the sand dune "it will definitely involve you not having sex with him."

"That doesn't seem fair," Ianto murmured.

Jack's eyes flashed with hurt and anger.

"I mean to say," Ianto explained, his voice wobbling slightly, "none of this is fair, I didn't ask to feel like this. I love you but I love him too and I can't stand it when you fight with him all the time."

Jack felt all his anger melt away as Ianto struggled to maintain his composure. He dropped to his knees next to the younger man and wrapped his arms around him. He caught John's eye over Ianto's shoulder and gave the former Time Agent a half smile. He gave a resigned sigh and gestured for John to join them, pulling him into a three way hug when he'd dropped on to the sand beside them. He kissed first Ianto and then John, placing chaste kisses on both their foreheads.

"I've just worked out rule number three," he said, "no fighting in front of Ianto," he looked into John's eyes, "agreed?"

"Agreed," John smiled.

* * *

Jack chose to keep his mother in the dark about what had happened to him since the last time they had met, though it was clear she knew a profound change had come over him. What for her had been a few short years, had been over 150 for him and he hadn't expected to see her again.

Despite his stroppiness over Ianto's initial reaction to his home planet, Jack had shown him all his childhood haunts. He'd opened up to the Welshman, talking to him in a way he never had before. In return, Ianto told the immortal the truth about his own childhood, putting right some of the lies he'd told about his background.

John had stayed out the way for the most part and Ianto loved him all the more for it. Despite their lack of physical contact, their psychic bond didn't diminish. Ianto could feel John's presence in his mind all most all the time, though the former Time Agent taught him how to tune it out when he wanted to.

All too soon, the adjustments to the wrist strap were made and it was time to say goodbye. John and Ianto hugged Jack's Mum, thanking her for hospitality, then walked a little way up the hill to give the immortal some privacy to say his own goodbye. They knew he'd probably never see her again.

Jack's eyes were red and swollen when he caught them up. The other two men shared a look but didn't say anything, knowing he'd talk about it if he wanted to.

"You ready to go?" the immortal asked.

They nodded.

"Just one thing," Ianto said, "can we keep this thing between the three of us for now. Owen will have a field day if he finds out. He was bad enough about me and Jack, I don't want to think what he'll say about this."

"You've nothing to be ashamed of, Ianto," Jack assured him.

"I know, it's just you know what he's like."

"Fine, it's nothing to do with them anyway."

When Jack and John used their wrist straps to open the portal, Ianto couldn't see any difference in its size. For a second he thought the modifications hadn't worked. However, Jack took his arm and pushed him through the doorway and John followed closely behind. They tumbled together through the void, landing with a bump in a tangle of arms and legs.

When he'd regained some of his composure, Ianto scanned his surroundings. He frowned.

"You got the coordinates wrong," he murmured.

"No," Jack replied, "We didn't. Look, there's the water tower."

John came up behind them, resting his head on Ianto's shoulder.

"Erm, Jack?" he said, "Why is there a big hole where the Hub used to be?"


	13. Chapter 13

Ianto was too shocked to do anything except stare into the large crater which stretched for several yards and centred on what used to be the little tourist office. Blue and white police tape lined its perimeter, gently flapping in the wind where it had broken free from its mooring. He turned his head sideways, unsurprised to find the immortal in much the same state as himself. Only John appeared unaffected by the recent turn of events.

"Have you still got your phone?" The former Time Agent asked.

"Huh?"

"Your phone, Jack. I'm assuming you want to get in touch with your team, find out what happened here."

"Oh yeah."

Jack pulled himself together and fished into his greatcoat. Taking out his mobile phone, he pressed a key then held it up to his ear, shaking his head in alarm when he couldn't get through. He repeated the action twice more, getting the same result both times. His face paled.

"There all unobtainable," he murmured.

Ianto grabbed hold of the sleeve of a passing pedestrian.

"Excuse me, sir," he asked politely, "can you tell us what happened here."

"Terrorist bomb," the man frowned, "I'm surprised you didn't hear about it, it was all over the news for months."

"Um, we've been out of the country," Ianto replied, "Was anyone hurt?" He tried to keep his voice steady.

"It's funny you should ask that," the man said, "There were some bodies found down there but no-one was reported missing. Not only that but some of the remains were identified from dental records as belonging to people who'd died years before. A bloke down the pub told me that his next door neighbour's sister was down there and she died years ago. What's really bugging my friend's neighbour is now he's left wondering what it was he buried all those years ago."

"Hmmm?" Ianto glanced at Jack.

"And to add to all the weirdness, there was a tourist office on this site before the bomb went off and she was delivering pizzas to that very tourist office on the night she was supposedly murdered....only the kid that worked there claimed she never arrived. My mate's neighbour always thought there was something odd about that guy though."

Ianto made a strangled squeaking noise, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Are you okay?" the man asked.

Ignoring him, Jack gently laid his arm around Ianto's shoulder and led him away, coming to a stop in front of a bench on the other side of the Plass.

"He's fine," John dismissed the man, before following.

"Hey," Jack sat down on the bench and pulled Ianto down to sit beside him, "You've nothing to worry about," he soothed, "no-one will believe it. They'll say it's a rumour or a conspiracy theory. The police will just dismiss it as Torchwood spookiness."

There were tears in the Welshman's eyes as he nodded.

"I know. It's just....everything I've been through, sometimes I think it's retribution."

"Ah Ianto, will you ever believe me when I tell you, you did nothing wrong. She was controlling you."

He pulled the younger man in and kissed his forehead. John sat on his other side and put his hand on his knee.

"You sure you're okay," Jack asked, "because we need to find out what's happened to the rest of the team. All their phones are out of service and I don't know what else to try."

"Martha," Ianto said, pulling away "have you tried Martha?"

"Of course," Jack beamed, "why didn't I think of that?"

He took out his phone again, breaking out into a grin when it started ringing. The grin widened after a few moments when it was answered.

"Ah, the voice of a nightingale," he beamed

He held the phone away from his ear and laughed as she screeched excitedly.

"Jack! Where are you?"

"On the Plass. Martha, what happened here and where is everyone."

"They're all fine, Jack. Stay where you are and I'll get one of them to come and meet you. Oh and Jack," she swallowed, "is...is Ianto with you."

"Yes, Yes he's here, we did it."

Jack grinned and handed the phone to him.

"She wants to speak to you."

"Hey Martha."

"Ianto, it's so good to hear your voice. We've missed you."

"You've missed my coffee," he chuckled.

"That too. The others are going to be made up you're back. I can't wait to see you."

"Martha, where are you?"

"I'm in Cardiff, Ianto," her tone turned serious, "look it's a long story," she sighed, "I'll tell you all about it when I see you."

After Ianto ended the call, they sat quietly for a few moments, the three men lost in their own thoughts, until Jack, spotting Gwen from across the Plass, jumped up and ran over to her, throwing his arms around her and laughing. They looked at each other like long lost lovers and Ianto rolled his eyes and snorted.

John discretely took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"He does love you, ya know."

"Yeah?" he sniffed, "I doubt it."

"It's just his way."

"Maybe."

"Don't suppose you fancy a quick snog while they're not looking."

Ianto guffawed.

"You're worse than he is, Captain Hart. Come on, best go face the music."

Before he got half way across the Plass, Ianto found himself almost knocked off his feet by an over excited Gwen Cooper. She hugged him, jumping up and down and kissing him.

"Ianto, Ianto, Oh my god Ianto. I can't believe you're back."

"Gwen, stop," he laughed, turning a deep shade of red.

"Come on, the car's parked over here," she chuckled.

Ianto broke into a grin when he saw the familiar SUV parked by the side of the road, but the grin soon turned into a frown when he noticed it was a slightly newer model than the one he remembered.

"You bought a new SUV?"

"Long story," Gwen answered. "Look, let's get to Hub 2 and we'll fill you in."

"Hub 2," Jack queried.

"Like I said, Jack. Long story."

Jack climbed into the front passenger seat, cursing himself a moment later when he realised he'd left John and Ianto together in the back. He turned around and glared at John before slowly turning around to face the front.

"Are the others.....are they still..."

"They're fine, Jack," Gwen smiled, "We're all fine."

Jack and Gwen chatted happily for a while until Ianto suddenly let out a loud squeak. Jack's head shot around to glare at John angrily while Ianto cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. Gwen wondered what the hell was going on with them.

After only a few minutes they pulled up outside a four story office building.

"You hid the new base under an office block," Jack frowned.

Gwen laughed as she got out of the car.

"Not exactly," she beamed, "The new base _is_ the office block."

Jack did a double take, his mouth dropping open as he looked from the building to the Welshwoman.

"It's four stories high," Ianto exclaimed, "What did you do, take one floor each and one more for the archives."

"No, the archives are still in the basement. Let's just say we've expanded since you've been away."

"You took on new staff?" Jack asked.

"Not me personally," she replied, "but Torchwood did, yes."

She walked up to the door and took out a plastic card which she waved over a sensor. The three men followed her into a large reception area where a young girl in her early twenties with tight brown ringlets was sitting behind a desk.

"Afternoon, Miss Cooper," she bobbed her head.

"How many time, Lois. It's Gwen. Lois, this is Jack and Ianto, remember I told you about them."

"Hello, sirs," she smiled politely, "I've heard a lot about you."

"And this is John Hart," Gwen lowered her voice, "watch out for him," she whispered.

"Hey, I heard that."

Gwen chuckled as she walked over to the lift.

"Sometimes I really miss the days when it was just the five of us," she sighed wistfully, "but I have to say our work-life balance is so much better these days. We get proper time off and everything. Having more staff has been a big help since Tosh took her maternity leave."

"Since she took her what?!" Jack yelled, pulling up short.

"Maternity Leave?!" Ianto shrieked, bumping into him.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I know my timeline isn't canon in this fic. I wanted Ianto to be away as long as he was but I also wanted them to come back to the aftermath of COE. Don't forget it's AU. In my universe, COE took place more than three years after Exit Wounds which by the way, Owen and Tosh survived.**

Lois pressed a button underneath the reception desk and an opening appeared in the wall behind her.

"Still love you secret entrances I see," Jack chuckled.

He followed Gwen through the door and found himself in large open plan office. Several workstations were arranged haphazardly around the room and one or two of them were still occupied by smartly dressed personnel busily tapping away at computers. The set up reminded Ianto of Torchwood One and Gwen ignored the workers, much as Ms Hartman would have ignored him in the old days. She made her way over to a breakout area, consisting of a coffee table, several comfortable chairs and, most importantly as far as Ianto was concerned, a coffee machine. He gazed at it longingly.

"Come and sit down," she said, "I can see you'd love a coffee Ianto. Plus, I'd like a moment or two to catch up with all of you before you meet everyone else. Owen and the others are assembled in the conference room upstairs and Tosh and Martha are on their way over. As I said, Tosh is on maternity leave."

Ianto gave a little chuckle at that.

"You know, I can't believe she's pregnant," he said.

"Actually she's not. Not anymore."

"Huh? Oh, Oh I see, shit, that's terrible."

"What is?"

"She lost the baby."

"No, she didn't."

"but you said...."

"No, I said she was on maternity leave."

Jack frowned. "You're saying she went full term, aren't you? How the hell can that be? How long have we been away?"

"Ah, erm, yeah, about that." John stumbled over his words, "I er, I was going to tell you. Honestly I was. I was just... waiting for the right moment."

"Tell me what, John" Jack growled angrily.

"Hey, I'm sorry, okay. I told you my aim is off these days." He gave his wrist a little shake, holding the manipulator up to his ear, "I think it needs a service."

"How. Fucking. Long?!"

"Erm, A year," John smirked. He shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry," he muttered, though he didn't sound at all sorry.

The immortal glared at him before turning his gaze on Gwen, annoyance morphing into delight as he graced her with a huge grin, "So, Tosh's baby?" he said.

"She's called Kiki," she chuckled, "she's four months old and a little cutie."

"Four months?....."Jack paused, "but that must mean..."

"She's was pregnant before you went away? Yeah she was."

"Shit, how the hell did that happen?"

She raised an eye-brow at him.

"Seriously, Jack. Do I need to draw you a diagram."

"I mean," he replied, rolling his eyes, "how did she have the time to meet someone and get pregnant. She only ever mixed with the three of us and I'm certain you're not the father, even for Torchwood that would be a little out there," he laughed, "I know I'm not, so that only leaves O..........." he paused, "oh!"

Gwen grinned. "Yeah, I know. Turns out they'd been at it for months. They didn't want to say anything," she glanced at Ianto nervously, "with everything else that was going on Tosh didn't want to upset you."

"Owen?" Ianto exclaimed, "Owen is the father of Tosh's baby?" He shook his head and laughed, "I mean I knew she liked him but..........Are you sure we haven't crossed over into an alternative reality or something?"

Jack and John both looked up sharply, matching expressions of horror on their faces. They held their breaths as John slowly flipped open his wrist strap and fiddled with it. After a moment or two he let out the breath and relaxed.

"No, we haven't crossed the void," he said.

"Thank goodness for that," Jack grinned, "So," he said, changing the subject, "I'm dying to meet your team Gwen."

"Didn't I say, they're not my team?" she replied, "I'm not the one in charge."

"Then who is?"

"His name is Leon, Captain Leon Jackson." She paused, "he's..........he's a UNIT captain, Jack."

Jack's face dropped, "UNIT?" he said. He stood up and pointed an accusing finger her, "Fuck it, Gwen," he yelled, "You let UNIT take over, you let them walk into Torchwood, my Torchwood and take over."

"It's not like that," she shouted back, "you weren't here and it's not your Torchwood anymore so don't start yelling at me."

Ianto inwardly sighed. _Bloody hell_ he thought. Nothing ever changes, one minute they were eye-fucking each other and the next they're fighting, showing him up in front of everyone by flaunting their unresolved (he hoped,) sexual tension. John gave his hand a squeeze and he pulled it away more sharply than he'd intended. The former time agent looked hurt and Ianto did feel bad about that but he was growing a little tired of having John read him so easily all the time.

"If anything, Torchwood took over UNIT," Gwen went on, too focused on Jack to notice the exchange between the other two men.

She took a deep breath. "Let me explain," she began, "It all started when the children stopped....."

As Gwen told them everything that had happened in those five days that rocked the world, they listened spellbound, their shock and anger growing with each revelation. She told them how it had begun soon after John and Jack had left, the three remaining members of Torchwood targeted even before they knew the reason for the children's strange behaviour. She told how the powers that be had smuggled a bomb into the hub, using the body of a blow fish the team had picked up on an anonymous tip off. She recounted how they had only just escaped with their lives when Owen had discovered the device during the autopsy and how they had fled, shot at from all sides by unseen snipers. She explained that they had split up, ridding themselves of all technology so that they couldn't be tracked, abandoning the SUV and throwing away their mobile phones. She told them how they had reconvened in London, finding an abandoned warehouse and stealing the equipment they needed to set up a new operations base, fighting not only the alien threat but the combined forces of the Government, UNIT and the army. She told them how they had found Lois, an insider who was so sickened by what she'd heard, that she had agreed to spy for them. She paled, feeling nauseous as she related how they'd learned that the authorities planned to hand over ten percent of the world's children, picking on the weakest members of society, the sick, the poor and the disadvantaged, rounding them up from schools and hospitals and turning their guns on parents and teachers who refused to cooperate. She told them how Martha and her new husband Tom, on honeymoon in South America, not knowing the full story but knowing enough to try to protect the children, had stood in front of the doors of a missionary school and refused to let the UNIT soldiers past, she wept openly as she impressed upon them how heroic Tom had been as he was cut down in cold blood in front of his new bride. Her face shone with pride as she told how they had led a resistance of parents, hiding as many children as they could in barns and warehouses around the country. Finally, she told them how, when all had seemed lost, the children had let out a high pitched scream and just like that, it was all over.

"It was almost an anti-climax," she said, "one minute we were fighting for our lives, having the children ripped from our arms by soldiers with guns, and the next it all just stopped. We found out later it was your Doctor, Jack. He had worked out that the frequency the aliens used to contact us was harmful to them. He used some kind of sonic device to reflect it back on them."

Jack gave a little chuckle.

"He does love his sonic screwdriver," he said.

"Well, whatever it was it worked. The threat's over now but it has changed things forever. How can it not change things when there were troops on our streets, shooting at ordinary parents and teachers who were doing nothing more than protecting their children? People are angry, very angry. Governments all over the world have been brought down. In some parts of the world, there's still a lot of civil unrest but we were luckier in the UK. The interim Government acted quickly. Along with a lot other measures, they disbanded UNIT and gave the soldiers a choice, move into other army troops or join with Torchwood and make a new, bigger and better alien fighting organisation, one that's above the Government, beyond the police and all that other stuff you used to say, Jack. That's what I meant when I said we've taken over UNIT not the other way around. Most of our new personnel were with UNIT but they're Torchwood now."

Jack didn't look convinced but he nodded thoughtfully,

"I think it's time we met this Captain Jackson of yours."

"Fine," Gwen replied, "just please try to have an open mind, you'll like him, Jack, if you let yourself." She held out her hand to Ianto, "you ready," she asked. Ianto looked a little bemused but took the hand and nodded.

"Let's go," he said.

Ianto did a quick headcount as he entered the conference room. The large table which dominated the room seated ten people with one or two seats to spare. He locked eyes with a certain scrawny looking young doctor and the two smiled at each other before the man rose from his chair and strode over to him. He held out his hand which Ianto grasped, finding himself pulled into a back slapping hug.

"Good to have you back, Tea Boy,"

"Really?"

"Yeah," the doctor chuckled, "maybe now we'll get a decent cup of coffee around here."

Ianto rolled his eyes and laughed, giving the other man a friendly punch on the shoulder.

"What about you, you sly dog?"

He ducked his head and smiled,

"Yeah, I know. I can hardly believe it myself," he gave Jack a nod and shook his hand, "Tosh is on her way over here with Martha so maybe we can all catch up later. If you're up to it, of course. In the meantime, I think it's time you met our leader, Jack."

At that an older, grey haired man in an army uniform stepped forward, holding out his hand first to Ianto and John and then to Jack.

"Leon Jackson," he said, "It's good to finally meet you Captain Harkness, I've heard a lot about you. When you've settled back in, I'd be happy to have you back on the team if you're interested - and you of course Ianto. I understand your coffee is legendary."

"Please, call me Jack," the immortal responded, "I'm not sure what our plans are yet but we'll certainly think about it and let you know, Captain Jackson."

"And you must call me Leon," the other man said, "Let me introduce you to everyone."

Leon Jackson moved around the table, standing behind each of the occupied chairs and introdcing them to Jack and the others. He explained that each of the ten people around the table headed up a team in field operations, archives or support personnel. As Chief Medical Officer Owen led a team of doctors and nurses who were responsible for looking after employees' everyday medical needs as well as carrying out alien autopsies and dealing with emergencies. Gwen was a Leading Field Agent, whilst Tosh had a position in Technical Support waiting for her when she returned from maternity leave.

"...and that's everyone as far as the management team goes," Leon finished up "apart from....."

"Apart from me," said a voice from the doorway, "Sorry, I'm late, I was just getting a new guest settled in the cells. How are you Captain Cheesecake?"

Jack's polite smile suddenly widened.

"Mickey Mouse," he beamed, "Ianto, this is Mickey the Idiot; we travelled together with the Doctor for a while. What are you doing here, Mickey?"

Mickey Smith grew serious for a moment.

"I met up with the doctor a few months ago in the other reality," he said. "When I heard what the 456 did, I had to skip across to lend a hand, didn't I?"

"What did you say," Jack paled and he grabbed the back of a chair, "what did you call them?"

"Huh?" Mickey frowned, "the 456? We don't know what they're called. That's the frequency they used to contact us, it's the only name we have for them."

"Oh my god," Jack breathed, "I........." he ran a hand through his hair, his eyes darting from Mickey to Gwen and Owen before landing on Ianto.

"Jack, what is it?" the Welshman asked.

"I'm sorry, Ianto. It's all my fault. All of it, Martha's husband, the children, it's all because of me."

"What do you mean? How can it be because of you?"

Jack gulped and shook his head,

"I can't do this now," he said.

He made for the door pushing past Mickey in his hurry to get away. Ianto followed but by the time he'd reached the door, Jack was already half way down the corridor.

"Jack, where are you going?"

The immortal stopped and slowly turned around.

"I'm sorry Ianto, I can't stay, not now."

"You're.....You're leaving me?"

"No. I'll come back for you, I'll always come back for you, you know that, but I have to get away."

Ianto glared, his eyes blazing with fury.

"And what? You expect me to be just sitting around waiting for you....just like before. Well no, Jack. Not this fucking time," he glanced back at the door, "I've got options this time so if you go now that's it as far as I'm concerned, I won't have you back."

Jack looked away. He breathed heavily for a few moments, then turned a stony faced gaze on the young Welshman.

"Then I'm truly sorry,"

He turned away and was gone before Ianto could say anything else. The Welshman leaned heavily against the wall and felt a sob catch his throat. An arm snaked around his waist and he turned to bury his head in John's neck, the familiar scent of dark chocolate and cardamom calming him.

"Change of plan," John said, looking back at Owen, "We'll catch up another day, okay."

He brought his hand up and ran his fingers through the short hairs on the back on Ianto's neck.

"Let's get out of here," he soothed.


	15. Chapter 15

"I'm not complaining," Ianto said, stretching out, spread-eagled on the king size bed, "I'm just wondering how you can afford this place."

John smiled at him.

"You worry too much," he said, "It's not that expensive."

Ianto looked around the luxury hotel room, raising an eye-brow doubtfully.

"Okay," John grinned, sheepishly, "It is quite expensive, but trust me, I can afford it."

The Welshman rolled his eyes.

"I'm not a child you know. I know you spent most of your money finding me."

"We did spend a lot but I invested what I had left in this kid Jack and I met on Terellian 5. I made a killing, plus I get a nice warm feeling from knowing I did my bit for the abolitionist movement, long story I tell you about it sometime. Anyway all I had to do was skip forward in time, pick up my profits, convert them into 21st Century earth currency, and....hey presto, we're rich, Ianto."

Ianto pulled himself up to a seated position, trying not to think about the fact that John had just offered to share his wealth with him. He crossed his legs in front of himself and rested his hands in his lap, chewing nervously on his bottom lip .

John sighed.

"But that's not the only problem is it?" he said, "You think I'm going to want something in return."

The younger man looked up and smiled apologetically, giving the former Time Agent a small shrug.

"It's fine," John said, "I just thought we could, ya know, order room service? make a duvet den? watch a movie? Whatever you want, just relax a bit. If it will make you more comfortable I can go book into another room."

Ianto shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry, you don't have to do that," he said, "Come on, come and lie down."

The former Time Agent, bounded over to the bed and leapt on it, lying on his back next to the seated Welshman. He lay back, clasping his hands behind his head.

Ianto grinned down at him.

"John," he began hesitantly.

"Hhmmm?"

"It's not........" he paused, "it's not that I don't want to, you know. I just don't want to feel.....obliged, like I'm bought and paid for, like.....before...."

John pouted.

"I just wanted you to have a bit of a treat."

He took one of the younger man's hands and gave it a small tug. The Welshman rolled his eyes but lay down next to him, stiffening a little and keeping a respectable distance between them. John sighed, and shifted his weight around so that he was lying on his side.

"You know," he said, "I was thinking, we don't have to stay here if you don't want to, if you wanted we could travel the universe, I could show you the stars."

Ianto let his head fall lazily to one side so he was facing the older man.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," John sighed gloomily, "but we won't will we? We'll stay here on the off chance Jack turns up again."

Ianto looked away, he pursed his lips, chewing the inside of his mouth.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"S'okay."

Ianto felt a tightening in his chest but couldn't tell if it was something he was experiencing himself or if he was picking up on the other man's emotions through the empathic bond. He turned on his side, resting his head in one of his hands. He licked his lips and inched his face forward, John chose that moment to pounce on him, using his body weight to pin the younger man to the bed and kissing him fiercely.

Later, as they lay, their arms and legs tangled together in the crisp, white sheets, Ianto found he could justify what they'd done by reminding himself that when it came to it, Jack had left and John had stayed. Jack was always going to leave and the young Welshman wondered if John would always stay.

"John?" he asked.

"Mmmmm?" the older man replied sleepily.

"Why did you lie?"

John lifted his head a little.

"About what?"

"Your wrist strap, why did you say it malfunctioned."

"It did. That's why we were a year late, remember?"

"No," Ianto shook his head, "that's what you said, but it's not true. You brought us to this time on purpose didn't you?"

John rolled over on to his back and stared at the ceiling. He sighed.

"Fuck. It's the whole can't lie to you thing, isn't it? Why didn't you say something before."

Ianto shrugged.

"Wasn't sure...not until just now."

John gave him a wry smile.

"Ah."

"Thing is, I don't get it. Why would you deliberately bring us back a year late?"

John sat up, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and turning his back on the other man. He stared out the window.

"Jack's forgotten many things from his former life," he began, "I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the sheer weight of all those memories. But whatever it is, he's forgotten that we all learn about the 456 in history. It's one of those defining moments, like the birth of Jesus or the fall of Atlantis."

"Erm, that's a myth."

"Yeah, of course it is," John replied cryptically, "the point is the 21st Century is when everything changes, and it all starts with the events of last year. It's a date human children throughout the Universe can recite even centuries from now."

"So you knew the 456 were coming? Why didn't you want to come back before it happened. We might have been able to help."

"Because I know Jack. He wouldn't have been able to help himself. He'd have done something stupid like go up against them in some pointless pissing competition that would have only succeeded in getting people killed." He turned his head to face the younger man, his gaze flicking up the meet his eyes, "And I know you, you would have been standing right by his side when it happened, only you wouldn't have walked away from it."

Ianto gasped.

"But what if I was supposed to be here. What if I was supposed to do something and because I wasn't here the 456 were able to get away with the children."

John looked away again, dropping his gaze to his feet.

"Then I would have damned the world for you," he murmured.

Ianto felt tears in his eyes.

"You had no right.." he said.

John sighed heavily. He clapped his hands on knees and stood up.

"Look, you're here, I'm here, the world's still here. How about we clean up first, then order room service. If you're still angry with me in the morning we can talk about it then."

Ianto hesitated but after a while, he stood up and holding out his hand to the other man, he pulled him into the bathroom.


	16. Chapter 16

Ianto was warm and comfortable, cocooned in strong arms with a firm body pressed against his back. He could feel heat radiating from the splayed fingers of the hand that rested on his abdomen. His cock twitched as the scent of Apple Blossom filled his nostrils.

"_Huh?"_ he thought,_ "Apple Blossom?" _

He kept his eyes closed as someone stroked his hair; unsure what he was most afraid of, finding out it was just a dream or discovering that it wasn't. When he did eventually open his eyes it was to gaze into familiar blue ones. He blinked. Neither man spoke for several minutes until Ianto broke the silence.

"So, you're back," he whispered coldly.

Jack winced at the tone. He wondered if coming back now was such a good idea.

"How did you find us?" Ianto asked.

The immortal lifted his arm.

"Our wrist straps," he explained, "they're linked from when we were partners in the Time Agency."

He glanced over Ianto's shoulder to where John was still firmly snuggled against the younger man's back.

"So," he said, "I suppose this means..." he let sentence hang as his voice trailed off. He looked away.

"I didn't know you were coming back," Ianto retorted angrily.

"I know, I didn't mean..., oh never mind, it doesn't matter. How are you Ianto?"

The younger man frowned.

"but it's only been..." he paused, "how long _has_ it been?"

"A month or two, how long for you?"

"A few days. But how is that possible? I thought your wrist strap didn't work...oh," his face hardened as realisation dawned, "You've been with him." He sounded bitter even to his own ears.

As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness however, he noticed something off about the other man. His palour was more greyish than pink and his eyes had taken on a slightly deadened quality.

"Something happened," he said, bitterness turning to concern, "while you were away."

Jack sighed and covered his face with his hands. He let out a gentle sob and Ianto reached over and touched his knee.

"look at me," he said, bitterness turning to concern.

Jack lifted his head and the Welshman shifted a little, pressing himself further against his sleeping companion. He raised the covers and nodded at the space he'd made.

"What about him?" Jack asked.

"He won't mind."

"Are you sure?"

John fidgeted a little. He let out a groan and turned around, fluffing up his pillows before settling down again with his back to the other two men.

"Get in the damn bed, Jack" he growled, "some of us are trying to sleep here."

TWTWTWTW

When Ianto woke again, he was assailed by so many overwhelming sensations that he couldn't think clearly. The twin scents of dark chocolate and apple blossom, two aromas which in no universe should go together, mingled tantalizingly causing his cock to twitch for the second time that morning. He lay on his back. A hand, not his own, was idly playing with one of his nipples while another hand, also not his own, stroked at his inner thigh. He moaned, and the hand on his nipple moved to the back of his neck. He felt someone crawl up his body and a quick kiss was planted on his lips. He opened his eyes and gazed at John who pulled away and grinned wolfishly at him before laying back down. He turned his head and looked at Jack who was mirroring John's position on his other side, leering at him with an equally wolfish grin on his face.

"Oh," Ianto squeaked, he coughed and tried again, deepening his voice, "I mean, 'oh.'"

Jack barked out an amused laugh.

"What's going on?" Ianto asked.

"We had a talk while you were asleep," John replied.

"and we've come to a decision," Jack went on. He leaned forward and sucked at the sensitive point just below Ianto's right ear.

"Ah," Ianto gasped, "Erm, I I'm...not sure..."

Whatever he was going to say was lost as his capacity for rational thought was taken away by John nibbling on his left ear lobe.

"Trust us," Jack said, punctuating his words with tiny kisses along his jaw line, "you. will. love. it."

"H...How, erm. How," Ianto stuttered, "...Look just stop a minute will you," he pleaded.

Both of the former time agents ignored him as they continued to lick and nibble and suck their way down his torso. John took one of Ianto's nipples into his mouth and rolled it between his teeth causing the Welshman to squirm and shout out.

"Madagascar!" he yelled.

Jack pulled away immediately, backing off and holding up his hands. John however, stayed firmly wrapped around Ianto's body although he did stop what he was doing.

"Huh?" he frowned, looking at Jack.

"Safe word," Jack mouthed, soundlessly.

"Ah."

John unwrapped himself and moved away.

Ianto took a couple of calming breaths then pulled himself up the bed so he was sitting with his back resting against the headboard.

"As I was saying," he said, "how do you expect me to trust you when I don't even know your real names."

Jack sighed.

"Ianto we've been through this. It's drummed into us at the Academy. One of the earliest things we learn, right after 'don't cause a paradox,' is never, ever tell anyone your real name. It's why John and I never slip up and call each other anything other than Jack or..."

"Jamal," John interrupted him "Jamal Hahn."

Jack glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"What?" John argued, defensively.

"Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make out like I'm the bad guy. I'm only following the rules."

"Following the rules?" John scoffed, "the only time you follow the rules is when it fucking suits you, Jotham."

"It's not Jotham, It's Jack," the other man snarled, through gritted teeth, "Jack Harkness."

"No it's not., it's Jotham fucking Hunter, you pompous ass. There I said it, and has the world ended," he cocked his head to one side as if listening for something. "No?" he went on, sarcastically, "Really? Now there's a fucking surprise."

"Yeah, well..." Jack started.

Ianto never heard the rest of whatever it was Jack said as he sighed and edged his way down the bottom of the bed. He wondered if fighting was like some kind of bizarre mating ritual for the pair of them. They'd more than likely spent the last god knows how many years fighting and fucking their way through time and space. He doubted they'd even noticed he'd left as he made his way to the bathroom. The argument showed no signs of winding down.


	17. Chapter 17

By the time Ianto stepped out of the bathroom, the fight between Jack and John had turned physical. Or should that be between Jotham and Jamal, Ianto thought, stifling a giggle at how their linked names sounded like a cheesy, 1990s pop act. He cocked his head to one side, taking a moment to gaze at the two men naked wrestling, before he quietly and carefully opened the door and snuck out of the room.

TWTWTWTW

"Fuck John," Jack wheezed, frantically trying to dislodge the former time agent from his back, "get off me a minute, will ya."

"Ha," John scoffed, "so you admit it, I win."

"No." Jack screwed his head around to look at him, his brow creasing in confusion, "Come to think of it...what are we fighting about anyway?"

"Pfft," John slapped him hard on the bottom, "you're no fun anymore. What's up?"

"It's Ianto," Jack explained, "he left about five minutes ago."

John's eyes widened. His gaze flicked worriedly from the bed, where he had last seen the Welshman, to the door, before landing back on Jack again. Suddenly he leapt into action. Without pausing to think it through or to put on any pants, he jumped up and made for the exit. He fell flat on his face a moment later, spinning around to see Jack holding on to his ankle.

"What the fuck!" he snapped, "What did you do that for?"

"You can't go out there like that. This is the 21st Century, John. You'd be arrested before you even made it to the lift."

John kicked out hard with his foot, catching the immortal in the chest and causing him to gasp painfully, then he grabbed some clothes off the floor and hurriedly started dressing.

"Hey," Jack yelled, watching as John pulled on a pair of underpants, "They're mine."

"So?"

"So, get them off before I pull them off."

John gave him a withering look and carried on dressing.

"What?" the Immortal quirked an eye-brow, "no innuendo, no sexy come-back. Shit, you're actually serious this time, aren't you?" he sighed and shook his head, "look John, Cmon will ya. Stop a minute. You'll never catch him now. I think he just needs a bit of time, if we push him now, he's gonna back off."

Still wearing Jack's pants and with one leg in and one leg out of his jeans, John hopped the few steps to the bed and collapsed on to it, groaning in frustration.

"'Of course I'm serious," he moaned, "didn't you think I was?"

"I dunno," Jack said gloomily, "I just thought, you'd be like you always are. Promising them everything and then fucking off when it gets too hot. I was trying to protect him."

"Oh yeah, 'cause you've never fucked off in your life, have you Jack. I'm sorry but I love him, more than anything."

"Yeah okay, I get it. When did you first realise?"

"Truthfully?"

Jack nodded.

"From the first moment I stuck a gun in his face."

The immortal chuckled.

"You too, huh?"

"What is it about that guy that makes you want to either kiss him or kill him."

"He's annoyingly Welsh."

"Yeah, that and he's pigheaded and obstinate."

"and stubborn."

"Don't they mean the same thing?"

"Whatever. He 's so uptight. He refuses to kiss me or hold my hand in public."

"He's always going on about clean underwear."

"And he makes me pair my socks before putting them in the laundry."

"He makes me sleep in the wet patch."

"You're lucky. He makes me get up and change the sheets, and sometimes when we make love, he makes me stop and fold my clothes just when I'm getting into it."

"He does that to me too, and he makes me wash my hands when I've been the toilet."

"Ugh, that is disgusting, John. We all do that."

"Oh, er yeah," John coughed, "I meant..." he mumbled something incoherent, "he's got a nice ass though," he went on, changing the subject.

"Oh yeah, he's got a nice ass, nice body all round really."

"And an adorable, little nose."

"Oh," Jack grinned, "I love that nose. The tip is so cute, it turns up by just the right amount."

"Plus he's the most courageous man I know."

"Yeah, and he's loyal. Fiercely loyal

"Definitely, in fact, even after you'd buggered off it took all my Hahn charm to get him into bed."

Jack narrowed his eyes at the other man

"So, you seduced him, then?" he snapped.

"Yeah?" John shook his head, quizzically, "So, what's your point?"

The immortal seemed to think about for a while but then he shrugged.

"Fair enough," he said.

"So...how long do you think Ianto will be?"

"Not sure, why?"

"Just wondering."

"Time enough for..."

"really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"So, what do you say..."

"For old times' sake?" John asked

"For old times' sake," Jack agreed, smirking.

TWTWTWTW

As soon as Ianto stepped out of the hotel lobby he jumped into a taxi, grateful that John had lent him some money that morning. John had called it a gift but hadn't realised that Ianto was keeping a tally. The former time agent had all ready bought him some new clothes, clothes more suitable for the time period than the ones Jack had bought him off planet. And hadn't that shopping trip been fun. Ianto had tried and failed to get John into something other than the red military jacket he'd picked up from fighting in the Napoleonic wars. Not that the Welshman didn't love John's coat almost as much as he loved Jack's. He had a sudden vision of the two men, standing side by side wearing nothing but their iconic outerwear. He was so lost in thought that the taxi driver had to shout twice to let him know they'd reach his destination.

"Oh, sorry," he said, stepping out of the taxi and handing over a couple of tenners, "keep the change."

The driver thanked him and drove off leaving Ianto standing in the road wondering what to do. He watched the house for a while and then, steeling himself he strode purposefully up to the door and rang the bell. The boy that answered the door was so much older than Ianto expected and for a moment the young Welshman was taken aback.

"Hullo, David," he said.

David stood in the doorway, staring at his uncle and not speaking. His mouth hung open.

"Um, is your Mam in?" Ianto asked.

"Who is it David?" a voice called from inside the house, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Ianto began to wonder if he should have called first. As she opened the door further to peer around David, Rhiannon was still smiling and shaking her head, ready to apologise for her son's odd behaviour. The smile slipped from her face when she saw who was standing there.

"Hello, Rhi," Ianto gave her a sheepish wave.

She stumbled backwards and landed heavily on the bottom step of her stairway. Her hand covered her mouth and a sob escaped her lips. Ianto rushed forward, afraid his sister might be hysterical. He shouted for David to get his mother a glass of water and at that moment, Rhiannon's husband Johnny, alerted by the commotion, came to see what was happening. Spotting his brother in law, his dead brother in law that is, standing in the hallway, Johnny staggered sideways and landed in a heap on top of his wife. Thankfully this brought Rhiannon out of her trance and she yelped loudly, hitting her husband and shouting for him to get off her which drew a girl who Ianto took to be his niece Mica, from the living room. She pointed sulkily at Ianto.

"Who's he?" she demanded.

"That, is your uncle Ianto" Rhiannon uttered, glaring a little, "and he's got a lot of explaining to do."

Ianto gulped.

TWTWTWTWT

Once Rhiannon had calmed down and they were both sitting at her dining room table, sipping coffee, she asked him where he was staying.

"I'm fine. I'm staying with a friend," he replied.

She gave him a pointed look.

"Would that be the same friend who came to see me after you went missing?"

"Oh, Um," Ianto blushed, "not exactly. Although, maybe, sort of."

She shook her head.

"I never did have any idea what was going on with you, did I. But still I thought, you might have told me about your friend," she made quotation marks in the air, "I had to wait until I thought you were dead to find out you're gay."

"I'm not gay," he retorted, "I'm not," he went on cutting off her protest, "It's not men, it's just him, it's only him, well, that is, it's only him and...um, it's complicated."

She gave him an exasperated sigh, shaking her head as she resigned herself to not knowing.

"He's good to you though yeah?"

"Yeah," Ianto smiled, thinking of John, "yeah he's good to me." His eyes filled with tears when he thought of the two men he loved, wondering if he would have been able to answer so assuredly if he'd only been thinking of Jack.

She placed a hand over his on the table.

"He'd better be," she insisted.

TWTWTWTWT

Ianto made it back to the hotel in one piece, though he was fit to bursting with his sister's cheap brand of instant coffee. He stopped off in the men's room in the lobby before taking the lift to his floor and using his key card to let himself in to their suite. He stopped dead in the doorway, shocked rigid by the sight that met him.

"What the..." he yelped.

"Oh hey, Ianto," John grinned, "wanna join us."

"No, I don't. What I want to know," he snarked, "...is where the fuck you got a Twister board from?"

"John was a boy scout," Jack told him.

"Oh okay. That explains it then, obviously. Silly me. But why Twister?" the Welshman asked.

"Why not Twister, it's fun," John laughed, "Jack and I first played it in the 1980's, haven't been able to get enough of the game since then."

"And you're just playing Twister, yeah. Just Twister?" Ianto shook his head, disbelievingly, "and it's not even naked Twister."

John's face lit up.

"Oooh, Naked Twister," he giggled, "Oooh, Jack, how come we've never thought of that?"

Jack looked at Ianto and then at John, his expression matching the former time agent's for wide eyed excitement.

"I dunno," he marvelled, "coz now he's said it, it seems so obvious."

Ianto just sighed.


	18. Chapter 18

Ianto's upper body was resting against John's chest while the former time agent whispered filthy comments in his ear. John's husky tones were strangly arousing making Ianto wonder if he could come from the sound of the other man's voice alone. Not that he was going to find out, at least not today, what with Jack's mouth wrapped around his cock. Should have guessed realy, naked Twister was never going to end any other way. Had he realy expected it to? No, not if he was honest with himself. He closed his eyes, moaning in pleasure and letting his mind close down, feeling nothing except John's hot breath in his ear and Jack's wet heat on his cock.

"Hey!" He snapped his eyes open as Jack let go of his penis with a soft plop.

The immortal ignored him, looking at John over the Welshman's shoulder.

"Fancy that sandwich now?" he asked.

"Um, yeah, sure. Why not." John replied.

"What the fuck," Ianto protested loudly, "fine, call room service if you must, but finish what you're doing first."

Jack crawled up the Welshman's body, stopping when he was eye-level with John. He bent forwards, using his body weight to push John back and capturning the former time agent's lips in a hot, passionate kiss, trapping Ianto's body between them.

"Oh," Ianto squeaked, finally getting the message.

"Hmm," John chuckled, as Jack pulled away, "a Ianto sandwich."

TWTWTWTW

Jack sat crossed legged on the bed, sitting between his two lovers, holding one of their hands in each of his own. He smiled at them. His and John's decision to put aside their differences, at least temporarily, to give Ianto "the night of his life," as John had put it, hadn't exactly turned out the way any of them expected. It had been much more than that. Somehow in the heat of the kissing and the biting, and the sucking and the fucking, something else had happened. Something bigger than all of them, something even Jack in his long life, hadn't experienced before. There was even a point when he thought he'd heard the empathic song passing between the other two, maybe even returned it, though he couldn't be certain in the cold light of day. He knew he should ask John about it, but that would mean admitting something he wasn't ready to admit yet. Not when there was only one way that was going to end. It didn't matter how long it took, Jack would be left alone evenually.

"So," the immortal asked, "where do we go from here?"

"Do we have to go anywhere?" John asked.

"We can't stay here forever."

"Jack, Jack, Jack," John chuckled, "always the one with the plans and the what nows."

Ianto laughed out loud. He'd never thought of Jack as the forward thinker. It was the young Welshman who was the one who couldn't go for a drive in the country without mapping out the route, memorising where all the rest stops where, and timing the run on his stopwatch just in case he needed to know how long the return journey was going to take. It was difficult not to think of Jack as the impulsive one.

"What's so funny?" John asked him.

"Nothing. Just I'm with Jack. We can't stay here forever. We need a plan. I need a plan. I'm sorry, John, I know you hate not living in the moment, but I need to have some idea where I'm going to be next week, or next month, or next year. It's not like I don't know the plan will change, but I was ripped out of my life three years ago and I never expected to get anything resembling a normal life ever again. Not that you could describe anything about my life as normal, but you know what I mean."

"For you, Eye-candy, I'll do it all, picket fence and everything. I say we get some sleep and make some plans in the morning."

"I don't sleep," Jack said.

"yeah, you do. In fact you snore," John told him.

"I do not snore."

"Yes you do, loudly."

"Don't."

"Do, so."

"I do not."

"Oh, you so do."

"I. Do. Not. Snore."

Ianto sighed.

"If this is going to work, I'm gonna need ear plugs."

TWTWTWTW

After spending the whole night "not sleeping", Jack woke to find John and Ianto both grinning at him.

"Told you," John said.

"I wasn't asleep, I was resting my eyes."

"You were snoring.

"I told you I don't snore."

"And I told you you do."

"Don't"

"Do"

"Oh, please god, kill me now," Ianto groaned, "can we talk about the plan now."

"Oh, yeah. Of course, sorry Ianto," Jack apologised, "just one thing before we we do though?"

"What's that?"

"do I snore?"

TWTWTWTW

"Alpha one, clear."

Ianto was working for Torchwood again and he was loving it. It wasn't as if there wasn't still the ever present threat of dying young, but with more people working for the organisation, the threat was spread out a bit. Also with a new commander in charge, things were much tighter than they had been in the old days. The Welshman couldn't bring himself to say Jack hadn't been a good leader, but the immortal had worked with what he'd had and if that meant being a little unconvential sometimes, well if it worked out well in the end it was all good. The problem was, for all John thought otherwise, Jack wasn't the type to plan ahead. Every decision was made on the hoof, reacting to situations as and when they arose, with no thought as to how the situation could have been avoided in the first place. Jack himself couldn't have disagreed with the assessment, which was why he'd opted to take no part in the day to day running of the organisaion. He'd chosen instead, to operate as a freelancer, a role he'd been perfectly satisfied with for over 100 years before Alex's murder suicide. John, on the other hand, didn't want to work for Torchwood at all, but was happy to stick around anywhere Ianto was, besides the 21st century had some very nice poodes to explore. For the past three months, the three men had been renting a house on the outskirts of the city and it sort of worked in a fucked up way. If Ianto thought about it too much he wanted to collapse in a heap of giggles, or run away as fast as he could. So, he tried not to think about it too much and as long as he didn't, he'd never been happier.

"Alpha two, clear."

Ianto was a field operative in the new Torchwood, an actual bona fida field agent that is, and not a half trained archivist, sent out on missions because there was no one else. Though still officially in training, he had more experience than any of them, with maybe the exception of Mickey.

Along with the rest of Alpha team, Ianto was currently running about a rundown property in Newport which intel had suggested was the centre of a thriving trade in alien artifacts. If their intel had been correct however, the traders had been warned as the various operatives all clears attested to the fact that the property was deserted.

"Alpha three, clear."

Ianto had checked the upstairs bathroom and one of the bedrooms he'd been assigned. He placed his back flat against the wall outside the other, then swifly swept around, gun in hand, doing a quick sweep of the room. He was about to shout the all clear when he noticed a shadow in the corner. He approached it with caution keeping his gun held out and giving it a kick with the toe of his boot. As he did, he realised it was a boy, not much older than his nephew. He crouched down and felt for a pulse, finding a faint beat, before beginning a quick search of the boy's pockets. He pulled a small bag from the front pocket of the youngster's jeans and stared at it, feeling his own pulse quicken at the sight.

"Ianto!"

He was vaguely aware of a crackling noise coming from his headset. He ignored it as he continued to stare at the small, clear packet, turning it over and over in his hands, examining the contents.

"Ianto."

"..."

"Ianto...I'm gonna need to hear from you in the next five seconds or I'm sending someone after you!"

Ianto jumped, slipping the packet in his cargo pants, and putting a hand to his ear.

"Um Yeah sorry, Mickey. I'm here. I'm fine but I'm gonna need a medic."

He straightened up as the medic came in and nodded towards the prone figure on the floor. The doctor ran over to the boy and crouched on his knees to check him over.

"Human?" the doctor asked.

"I thinks so, just some kid."

"Hmm, looks like an OD, it would help if we know what he'd taken. Have you checked his pockets, did he have anything on him?"

Ianto's heart beat a little faster. He licked his lips then sucked in the bottom one, biting down hard on it.

The medic paused in his examination and looked up

"Ianto?" he yelled.

"Hmmm?...oh sorry,um no."

The doctor screwed up his face and looked at the Welshman through narrowed eyes.

"No, you haven't checked or no he didn't have anything."

"No," Ianto affirmed, "No, there was nothing."

TWTWTTW


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Sorry for not updating for such a long time. I bet you thought I'd abandoned this story. You know, how it is. Stuff happens, stuff gets dealt with, we move on. I'm writing again so hopefully I'll be able to update Rose Garden soon too.**

Ianto was tired which was only to be expected, after all he had spent the last 18 hours chasing aliens around the streets of Cardiff. Protecting the city's residents from the bizarre and unusual wasn't always the kind of job you got to clock off from at the end of your shift, and sometimes the only thing keeping you from losing consciousness was copious amounts of artificial stimulants and the adrenalin high. He yawned, dragging his feet as he shuffled wearily along the pavement. Deciding to leave his car in the Torchwood car park had been the right decision given that he could barely keep his eyes open, but it was easy to feel unappreciated. No-one would ever know how close the human race had come to total annihilation that day; or just how much he and his colleagues had sacrificed to keep the unthinkable from happening. He loved his job, he really did, but some days it was all too much. Still, at least under the new regime long shifts were usually rewarded with reasonable periods of R and R, and now the threat had been neutralised Ianto was looking forward to some serious down time with John. He wondered if Jack would be back yet from wherever it was he went to when he wasn't here with them, but finding himself too tired to care that much, he came to a halt outside the property he shared with his two 51st Century lovers and searched for his keys. He groaned inwardly as he struggled to find them. Too many pockets, he thought. It was one of the major disadvantages of swapping the suits and ties Jack loved so much for the cargo pants and casual jackets John favoured. He was just about to give up and ring the bell when the door was flung open and he jumped in surprise as he found himself enveloped in a bear hug. It took a moment or two for his fuddled mind to register that he was being groped by a completely naked man in full view of his entire neighbourhood.

"For god's sake, John," he groaned, "get inside before one of the neighbours sees."

He stepped over the threshold, pushing John away so he could turn around to shut the door. When he turned back his mouth fell open slightly as he gaped at his partner who it turned out wasn't completely naked at all but was wearing a tiny, frilly pink apron and for some reason, which Ianto could only guess at, was brandishing a feather duster. The Welshman suspected John had no prior knowledge of what the item's actual function was and probably thought it was some kind of exotic sex toy. Ianto had long since ceased to be surprised by John's antics in the bedroom department and he couldn't help the smirk which formed on his lips.

"Oh hello," he chuckled.

John pouted,"Why didn't you phone?" he stamped his foot.

"I did phone, remember."

"That was six hours ago," he snapped. He folded his arms in front of his chest and humphed.

"I'm sorry, John. It's been a tough day and I've been up 20 hours straight. How about you stop nagging, get up those stairs and show me what a good wife you can be."

John narrowed his eyes briefly but then relented, running up the stairs and sniggering as Ianto ran after him. Their laughter rang through the house as the two men toppled on to the bed.

TWTWTWTW

"20 hours?" John pondered aloud later as they lay among the tangled sheets.

"Huh?"

"You said you'd been up 20 hours."

"Yes, so."

"You performed pretty well for someone who hasn't slept in nearly 24 hours."

"So, I'm young. What are you trying to say, Jamal."

"Nothing," John looked seriously at him for a moment before shaking his head and grinning at him, "I love it when you call me that," he said.

"I know you do," Ianto smirked.

"And I know you only call me that to distract me."

Ianto sighed.

"Go to sleep John."

By the time Ianto woke up hours later John was fast asleep. Checking his bed side clock, he was shocked to discover it was almost lunch time. His tummy rumbled noisily and he got up, fishing a pair of pyjama bottoms from out of his draw and slipping them on. He yawned and scratched his head, then went downstairs. He grimaced when he saw a familiar grey coat slung over the banister rail at the foot of the stair case. He picked it up and pressed it close to his chest for a minute, bringing it up to his nose to breath in the scent. Finally he sighed and hung the coat up next to his own on the coat rack in the hall, smoothing out imaginary creases as he did so. He walked into the lounge and sent the person sitting there a hard stare.

"So you're back then," he said.

"That I am," Jack agreed, "and how are you Ianto."

Ianto rolled his eyes.

"I'll go put the kettle on," he said.

Jack gave the other man's retreating back a longing look for a moment before turning away to stare into space. A minute later, he looked up again as John appeared in the doorway.

"For fuck's sake, put some clothes on," he groaned.

"Since when did you get so modest, Jotham." John said.

"Yes well, living through the entire 20th Century will do that to you. You do know you can get arrested for walking around like that in public."

John shook his head and laughed.

"What a strange, backward people they are," he said.

"Believe me, it's 1000 times better than the 1950's."

John gave his former partner a tight smile. He couldn't imagine what it had been like. Stuck in a time when you could find yourself thrown into jail or worse just for falling in love with the wrong person.

"Anyway," Jack asked, "how is he, I did ask him but he seems angry with me."

"And what possible reason could he have to be angry with you," John glared, "Actually, I am worried about him. There is something, I'm just not sure I'm ready to believe it yet."

"What is it? He seems fine to me."

"He would seem fine to you, the only time you ever notice him is when he's gone."

Jack gave him a look but didn't respond.

"I hope you two aren't fighting again?" Ianto interrupted, pushing open the door, "and for fuck's sake, go put some clothes on, John."

"Fine, I'll go," John huffed, "Geesh, what is it with you and clothes."

"So," Jack said after the former time agent had left the room, "How are you really, Ianto?"

Ianto shrugged, "Fine...Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Nothing. It's just..." Jack paused, "Ianto how long have I been away?"

"I dunno, a day or two, why?"

"Right," Jack sighed gloomily and looked away, "actually I've been gone a week." he went on.

"Well I'm sorry, it's been a busy week, I've had a lot on my mind, forgive me for losing track of time."

Jack gave Ianto a sad half smile, his eyes watering up a little.

"There was a time when I couldn't be gone more than a few hours without you getting panicky."

"Didn't stop you though did it?"

Jack rubbed his hands over his face and sighed.

"I know and believe me I'm sorry for that," he said, "you know the old saying you never know what you had until you've lost it." He took Ianto's hand in one of his own and stroked the back of it, "I looked for you, you know. All the time at first. Even long after you had disappeared I kept checking people out in the street or in the store, scanning their faces to see if any of them looked like you. There was this one time I walked into the hub and someone had put up a picture of you on the coffee machine, like they were starting a damn memorial wall or something. I threw a hissy fit. I kept telling them memorials were for dead people and you weren't dead so why the hell were they all acting as if you were. I'm not sure I even believed it myself at that point but when John turned up and told me you really were alive, just as I always said you were, I was so happy. I thought I was going to ride in on my white charger and rescue you, sweep you off your feet and have you back, only this time it would be different because I'd know exactly what I had, I'd treat you properly, like you deserve to be treated. I just never considered the possibility that you wouldn't want me anymore."

"I did want you...I mean, I do want you. I'm here, aren't I. You're the one who keeps going away."

Jack shook his head.

"Only because if I stay here I have to watch you slipping away from me bit by bit. I can see it your eyes every time I look at you. Don't deny it, Ianto. We both know it's true. Every day you fall a little bit more in love with him and a little bit less with me."

Ianto stared at Jack for a long moment, finding himself unable to speak over the lump in his throat. He gulped.

"You're leaving aren't you?" he whispered, "Just like I always said you would. You're leaving with your doctor and this time you won't be back."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N; Deepest apologies for the delay as usual. Thanks for sticking with me.  
**

Jack was standing by the window, arms clasped across his chest, gazing at Ianto with a faraway look in his eyes and making no attempt to answer the accusation put to him.

"Well, are you?" Ianto repeated angrily. Although his eyes were glistening they fixed Jack with a hard stare, "is that what all this is about because if it is I wish you'd just say so and go. I'm sure you'll be very happy with the Doctor. He is what you've always wanted after all."

Jack let out a heartfelt sigh.

"I'm not going anywhere with the Doctor," he said, "he doesn't want me anymore." He moved away from the window and sat on the coffee table in front of the Welshman, "in fact he never did, not really, and now finally, I realise I don't want him either. I spent all that time hankering after something I never wanted in the first place, when all the while what I really wanted was right there in front of me."

Ianto's gaze softened. He reached up and pushed a stray bit of fringe out of the immortal's eyes,

"I don't understand, Jack. You're talking in riddles again."

"Okay." Jack took a deep breath before continuing. "I never told you what happened the last time I ran away from you, did I? Thing is, I met up with the Doctor not long after Gwen had told us about the 456."

Ianto's eyes flashed angrily.

"Oh, nothing happened, not like that anyway. I'd hitched a lift on a cargo ship and ended up on a space station somewhere lightyears from here. I don't even know where exactly but I was drowning my sorrows in a bar when he showed up. I was on my fourth or fifth hypervodka so the details are a bit hazy but for some bizarre reason he was trying to fix me up with some stranger. Admittedly the guy was kinda cute," Jack grinned and Ianto rolled his eyes at him, "although he was a little jug eared for my taste," he chuckled a little but soon grew serious again, "He was gonna leave without even speaking to me. The Doctor that is, not the guy. But I caught up with him and asked him what he thought he was up to and he told me he was about to regenerate. Like I said the details are sketchy but it seems the Universe had given him the opportunity to make things better for some of his friends, even if by doing so it meant changing the time line. Now, that's a big deal, Ianto, because the Doctor knows what can happen if certain events don't play out how they are supposed to. Some things are fixed points in time and can't be messed with, like you're kidnapping for example. Even with a time machine I wasn't able to go back and stop it happening because that would cause a paradox and the Universe could implode. But then the Doctor's standing there, telling me he had a one-off, no questions asked licence to do something nice for me, even it it caused a change in one of these fixed points. I couldn't believe my ears, I was so excited. We could do it, we could actually do it, we could go back and prevent you from being taken. I could have you back as you were before. Before everyone thought you were dead, before I'd given up hope of ever seeing you again." As Jack was speaking he grew more and more excited, his eye's lighting up, but suddenly the light was gone again and he sighed, "But he wouldn't," he went on sadly, "I begged and pleaded but you know what? He would budge, not even an inch. He said he'd only been given one chance for each of his companions and this was what he'd chosen for me. I felt a little sick to be honest, especially when I found out what he'd done for the others. Sarah Jane's son, Luke was run over and killed in the original time line, Mickey and Martha were saved from a mission that went wrong, Donna got the financial security she needed to make her marriage work, and me," Jack snorted, "I got a cheap fuck for the night. Can you imagine how that made me feel. I ask you, what does it say about the Doctor's opinion of me? It's like he doesn't think I'm capable of having real feelings about anything because I'm sure if he'd looked into it properly he would have known that losing you was the most significant event in my life."

"I'm so sorry, Jack," Ianto touched him on the cheek and Jack leaned into the touch, smiling sadly.

"Doesn't matter now," he said. "Point is, I asked the Doctor to bring me back to you and told him I didn't want to see him again unless the world was ending so I'm not going anywhere," he paused, cocking his head to one side to look at the other man with a thoughtful expression on his face, "but I am moving out," he sighed.

"Why? I mean, I know you haven't been happy."

"Because this, this thing with John," he used his hands in a gesture which took in the whole room, "it was only meant to be temporary remember? Just until you were strong enough to choose between us. So I guess I'm asking you to choose now," Jack smiled tightly and shook his head, "but I'm not expecting you'll choose me."

He paused, half hoping Ianto would contradict him but when no words were forthcoming, he continued.

"Well?" he asked, cursing himself for sounding like a love sick school boy, "will you? 'cause just say the word and we'll leave together or I'll ask John to leave. It's your call, Ianto."

He held his breath waiting for some response. The younger man's eyes darted left and right. He licked his lips, pulling the bottom one in and sucking on it. Finally his gaze met Jack's head on and he leaned forward a little. For a second Jack thought he was going to lean in a little closer and kiss him but just as he opened his mouth to say something, an almighty crash came from the room above and they heard John's voice let rip with a loud expletive. As if a spell had been broken, Ianto's jumped away, his eyes drawn up to the ceiling. The look on his face conveyed such concern that it broke Jack's heart a little. He sat back and sighed.

"Go," he said.

When Ianto rushed out of the room without a backward glance, Jack knew he had his answer. He quietly let himself out of the house, giving one last look at the front bedroom before moving away.

TWTWTW

On his way to work, the next day, Ianto contemplated the course of events. If someone had told him a few years ago that one day he would be with John and not Jack he would have smacked them up side the head and told them they were a liar. But then, he supposed, the attraction had always been there even then, even though the John that had first shown up wasn't the John he knew and loved now. Ianto supposed that was because the former Time Agent had been using then and the narcotics had caused his personality to be slightly on the psychotic side. This gave the young Welshman pause for thought, but he immediately shook it off, deciding he'd deal with that later when the pain from losing Jack was less raw.

He walked into the break room and was surprised to see the man in question sitting there. He blushed and looked away, keeping his head down as he walked towards the coffee machine.

"Wasn't expecting you," he mumbled.

Jack chuckled.

"Nice to see you too," he laughed.

To Ianto, the older man sounded his usual happy go lucky self and he felt a bit stupid for any misplaced guilt he'd had about choosing John. How could he have imagined that a man like Jack was lonely for company, that he'd been lying in some soulless hotel room thinking of him? He'd probably been on the pull. Come to think of it, he had the look of a man who had recently had sex. Sure he'd seemed downhearted the day before but they'd been talking about the end of his friendship with the Doctor too so he'd probably been sad about that.

"Sorry," the Welshman said, turning around to face the immortal, "I meant I didn't realise we had anything on that required your input."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Jack shrugged. "All I know is your boss rang me this morning and asked if I could meet with him."

He smiled softly.

"Anyway," he went on, "how are you, Ianto?"

Ianto turned back to the coffee machine. He gritted his teeth in an attempt to control his irritation. If Jack wasn't bothered about the breakup, he sure as hell wasn't going to get the satisfaction of thinking Ianto was cut up about it.

"I'm fine," he said stiffly, "Oh and John sends his love," he snapped.

As soon as the words left his mouth he mentally kicked himself. John didn't even know he was going to be seeing Jack today so why would he send his love. He studied the coffee machine intently as if he was expecting it to do something more amazing than produce great coffee. He knew Jack would realise his slip up and probably thought he was trying to make him jealous and that would mean he still had feelings for the older man. He could feel Jack's self satisfied smirk boring into his back. He mouthed the word "fuck" to himself before plastering a smile on his face and turning around.

"Best go see what the boss wants then," he said, trying to sound as casual as possible.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Yes, I know and I'm sorry. I don't blame you if you have given up altogether on this story, given the lack of regular updates. Here is the next instalment anyway. **

There were times when Lois Habiba was sure Gwen and Tosh were teasing her. It was hard to believe there was ever a time when the only thing protecting the Earth from hordes of unfriendly aliens were the five longest serving members of Torchwood. Not that they weren't brave and resourceful but when it came down to it they were just four ordinary and slightly flawed individuals, lead by one not so ordinary but wholly flawed individual. She raised her eyes, offering up a prayer of forgiveness to Captain Harkness for the description. As much as she adored him for his tenacity and bravery, and his ability to always come out on top, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat time and time again, she couldn't quite see what other people saw in him. Sure he was good looking, but he knew it, and she never could stand a man who spent more time in the bathroom than she did. Given the choice she'd much prefer to be cornered in the stationery cupboard by someone who didn't know how amazing and handsome, and breathtakingly beautiful and totally awesome and...

"Morning, Lois."

She jumped, blushing furiously as the the very person she'd been day dreaming about appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and plopped himself down on her desk with his usual poise and grace.

"oh, erm. Morning, Mr Jones."

"Lois, Please. It's Ianto. I'm not that much older than you."

"Sorry, "she giggled, she actually giggled_, _inwardly cringing at herself for her inability to maintain any form of dignity around the man.

"Riiiight," he said, pushing himself off the desk and giving her a little wink, "you have a good day, Lois."

"Oh, wait," she called after him, "I nearly forgot, Captain Jackson wants to see you in his office at 10.

Ianto stopped and turned around,

"He wants to see me?" he queried.

"Oh no, not just you, a whole bunch of people."

"Oh," Ianto said, nodding his head. He sounded relieved, "Any idea what it's about?"

"No, sorry," she replied, "I was just told to inform the people on the list."

"Okay, Lois. Thanks."

She watched his bum disappearing through the secret door before she sighed and shook her head sadly, turning around, ready to greet the rest of the day shift as they came in.

TWTWTWTWT

Ianto rushed up the stairs from the basement where he'd spent the first part of the morning assisting in the archives. He was more than happy with his new role in the revamped Torchwood but there were times when he missed the old days, when he'd spent most of his days whiling away the hours in dusty basements only popping up at odd times to order food or make coffee. He'd been the first to volunteer when Mickey had relayed a request for some extra help from the archiving team, but he'd soon become so engrossed in the task that he'd lost track of time.

He walked briskly towards the Director's office, praying he wasn't noticeably late. He knocked once before opening the door, then smiled grimly as several pairs of eyes turned on him. He noted Mickey, Tosh, Gwen and Owen among the operatives in the room, as well as Jack, standing behind Captain Jackson's chair. Jack smiled broadly at him causing Ianto to blush and dip his head.

"Nice of you to join us, Jones." Jackson snapped.

"I'm sorry, Sir." Ianto cleared his throat and took a seat, keeping his head down. He risked a glance at Mickey who sent him a disapproving look and mouthed "later."

"Now we're all here," The Director began, looking pointedly at Ianto, "We can begin. Firstly, I'm sure I don't need to tell you this but you should know everything we discuss in this room today stays between us. You are not to discuss it with anyone, not even other members of your team. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a murmur or agreement and nodding of heads before Jackson continued.

"Two days ago I received a coded message from someone called Rex Matheson. He's a CIA agent in the US but this message comes from him directly, it hasn't come through official channels. Agent Matheson is running scared as he believes he's stumbled upon an alien conspiracy. He believes, and we've uncovered evidence which supports his beliefs, that the conspiracy goes as high as the presidency itself. There is something strange going on in the US and I've asked Captain Harkness, here to put together a team to investigate further. This may involve going to America under cover so I want you all to be prepared for that. Those of you with young children," he looked over at Tosh and Owen, "will of course be given the option to stay at home and coordinate the mission from here but the rest of you should let your loved ones know you may be going away on business soon."

"Are we allowed to know what this is about?" Owen asked, "after all if you're asking us to risk our lives, I'd like to know what's it's for."

With that Jack stepped forward and looked around the room.

"Good question, Owen and it's one I'm prepared to answer, but how about I ask you a question first."

Owen shrugged and nodded.

"Okay can you tell me the name of the president of the United States."

Owen laughed,

"What's this about, Jack?"

"How about you, Gwen. Can you tell me who it is?"

"Of course, Jack," she rolled her eyes, "It's," she stopped dead, "Um, oh." She frowned.

"Isn't it..." Mickey scratched his head, "wait a minute, I should know this."

Jack leant against the front of the desk, crossing his legs and folding his hands across his chest.

"Anyone? How about what he looks like. Anyone remember seeing a picture of him?"

"No," Ianto answered for everyone, "Jack what's going on."

"Our best guess is some kind of low level psychic field, probably transmitted via television and the internet. Anyone with any kind of contact with technology will have being effected."

"And how exactly have we been affected?" Owen asked.

"It's a kind of perception filter which seems to be focussed on the president of the United States of America. We know he's there, but none of us have really noticed him."

"Like the invisible lift?" Gwen asked with a puzzled frown.

"Sort of," Jack said. He picked up a remote control from the desk and pointed it at the big screen positioned behind the director's chair. An image of a man appeared. The man was standing at a podium giving a speech.

"This," Jack said, "was transmitted by Agent Matheson alongside his message. One of the reasons I picked you for this mission is that everyone in this room has some experience with perception filters, you all know how to see around them."

The room was silent for a few moments while the Torchwood Operatives studied the image, turning their heads this way and that as they tried not to look at it too closely, looking past it rather than directly at it. Ianto thought the method was something similar to looking at those Magic Eye pictures that were popular a few years ago. He was the first to break through the filter.

"But that's..." he frowned.

"Yes, Ianto it is," Jack agreed.

"But...," Gwen said, catching up with Ianto. "It can't be. He's dead. At least I think he is," her brow furrowed, "I can't quite remember what happened to him now."

"No, you can't," Jack smiled at her sadly for a moment before turning his attention back to the rest of the room. "but he _is_ dead or at least he was. Ladies and Gentleman," he went on, "the president of the United States is none other than," he paused for dramatic effect before continuing with a flourish, "the former prime Minister of Great Britain. Harold Saxon...deceased."

TWTWTWTWTW

Gwen found the whole situation unsettling. It wasn't the fact that a former Prime Minister of Great Britain had somehow managed to get themselves elected to the US presidency, overcoming the twin handicaps of being a, not American and b, dead. Working for Torchwood, you came to expect the unexpected. Nor was it the fact that they were enjoying an evening out, seemingly without a care in the world when the world was probably ending, after all as Ianto had once said, the world was always ending. It wasn't even the fact that John Hart had appeared half way through the evening and wrapped his arms around Ianto, kissing the back of the young man's neck and declaring how romantic the setting was because it was where he and "eye-candy" had first met. John was a cocky git and nothing he did would surprise Gwen. No it was none of these things that made her eyes goggle and had her wondering if she'd wandered into an alternative universe by mistake. It was when instead of turning around and punching the former time agent, Ianto simply rolled his eyes and smiled at him, then carried on the conversation as if he didn't have an overly confident, annoying bastard attached to his back like a limpet. After a while, John whispered something in his ear and the two of them gravitated away from the main group, sitting opposite each other at another table and speaking in whispered tones with their heads bent together. From the looks Tosh and Owen were throwing both her and each other, Gwen could tell she wasn't the only one surprised by this turn of events.

"Right," Owen said looking pointedly at the Welshwomen, "I think it's time Tosh and I were going, the baby sitter will be wondering where we are."

Tosh was about to say something when she noticed her husband giving a slight nod towards John and Ianto and then discretely pointing at Jack behind the immortal's back, inclining his head towards Gwen.

"Oh," Tosh leapt up, "oh, yeah. You're right. Gosh, look at the time, oh well goodnight all."

"See ya," Jack gave a little wave to the two of them, "Get a good night's rest. I want you in bright and early tomorrow."

As soon as they left, Gwen leant over the table and started talking to Jack. He caught the eye of a girl who happened to be passing by the table at that very moment and grinned at her, his eyes twinkling as he turned his head to track her progress. She threw him a bright smile over her shoulder as she walked away and Jack finally turned his attention back to his colleague.

"Sorry, Gwen," he said, his grin still in place, "what did you say?"

"I said, so Ianto's with John now?"

"Sure looks that way."

"John, John Hart?" Gwen said unbelievingly.

"Yes Gwen," Jack sounded irritated, "John Hart. What's your point?"

"And you're okay with that are you?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders,

"Would it change anything if I said I wasn't?"

"I could kill Ianto," she spat, "why is he doing this to you?"

"It's not his fault, Gwen. When we found him, he tried, he really tried but I know now, the truth was he'd all ready fallen out of love with me. He was away for a long time and before he left I never gave him any reason to believe I'd be waiting for him. It's no wonder he gave up hope. Besides he had to. It was the only way he could do what he had to do to survive. And then there's John and he's everything I'm not, everything I could never be. He's open and honest, and full of romantic gestures and declarations of love. He can give Ianto the love and security he'd never get from me because let's face it, If he hadn't gone away when he did, I'd have probably got bored of him soon anyway. It's just typical of me to want what I can't have."

"But I mean, it's John," Gwen said, "you really think John will be good for Ianto"

"You'd be surprised," Jack replied, "he can be incredibly loyal."

"Loyal?" Gwen scoffed, "how is it loyal when he claims to love you then steals Ianto right from under your nose," she paused for a moment, "you don't think that's why he's doing do you? To get back at you?"

"No," Jack sighed, "It's not John's style to hold a grudge. I know they both love me but they're _in_ love with each other. They're both in it for the long haul."

Gwen nodded over her shoulder at the two men on the other table,

"Actually, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Jack?"

The immortal frowned. He slowly turned around to see that Ianto was standing up while John hung on to his wrist. Ianto was wearing an expression which Jack recognised. It was one he had seen only rarely but knew meant trouble. Like many outwardly placid people, Ianto had a spectacularly fiery temper and although he didn't lose it very often, when he did, if you had any sense you'd find somewhere to hide until it was all over.

"I've told you there's nothing wrong now get the fuck off me, Jamal?" he yelled.

"Who's Jamal?" Gwen whispered to Jack. Jack shook his head and said nothing.

"You're forgetting," John tried to whisper but had to raise his voice a little to be heard over the din of the busy pub. He tapped the side of his head, "I know there's something wrong with you."

"Then have some fucking boundaries, man and get the hell out of my head, you bastard."

Ianto pulled his arm free and stormed out of the pub. John made to follow but no sooner had he stood up than he thought better of it and sat down again. He looked over to Jack and smiled weakly,

"Welshmen, eh?"

TWTWTWTWTW

Rhiannon was just settling down in front of the TV to watch her favourite soap when the door bell rang. She groaned and stood up. On answering the door and seeing her brother standing there she rolled her eyes by way of a greeting and went back to sit down, leaving the door open for him to follow. She turned the TV off and shouted to him, "are you going to stand there all night."

He came in a sat down, looking sheepishly at her.

"So," she said, "tell your big sister what's up. Have you had a fight with your fella, what's his name Jack."

"sort of," he nodded, "but his name's not Jack, it's John."

"No," she insisted, "No. It's not. It's definitely Jack."

"No, It's John, Rhi," he snapped, "I should know."

"I'm pretty sure it's Jack," she insisted, "he came to see me you know, when you were," she paused,"_away_. He came around here, shouting his mouth off..." She paused again, rolling her eyes before continuing, "bloody hell," she cried, "it's a different guy, isn't it."

"God, Rhi, you make it sound like I've had a whole rugby squad, it's two, that it. Just two."

"Still," she raised her eye-brows at him, "two's rather a lot for someone who claims he's not gay."

"Oh you know what," he barked, "forget it, I didn't come here so we could debate my sexuality." he made to stand up but she stopped him,

"No wait," she said, "I'm sorry. Tell me about him, this John. When do we get to meet him?"

"When hell freezes over I should think."

She chuckled.

"What's he like, then. Is he nice."

"I dunno, Rhi. It's complicated."

"Isn't it always with you," she sighed.

"In some ways, he's a lot like Jack," Ianto said, ignoring her comment. He gave a small smile and shrugged.

"Oh, Right," Rhiannon said, "He's an arrogant bastard as well then."

Ianto laughed,

"Yeah, I guess he is, but he's my arrogant bastard. That's the difference between him and Jack. I could never say Jack was mine, he wouldn't allow it, wouldn't let himself be lo...cared for by just one person. Everyone loves Jack and Jack loves everyone, I could never be enough for him. "

"But this John, are you sure you're enough for him?"

"Yeah," Ianto grinned at her and dipped his head. She smiled back, ruffling his hair as she used to when he was little.

"So, then what's the the problem?" she asked.

"I dunno, it just gets a bit much sometimes. I mean, I can't hide anything from him. Everything has to be open and upfront. There's no privacy, no secrets."

"Ah," she gave her head a small nod, "and we know how you like your secrets, Ianto."

"Hmm," he nodded thoughtfully, "I just don't like sharing. Not all the time anyway. Look, Rhi, don't freak out, but while I was away, we sort of went through a...a kind of bonding thing."

"Married?" she cried, her eyes widening, "You got married?"

"No. God no," he scoffed, laughingly, "not married. John's not from around here, the bonding thing, it's something from his culture. I can't explain, there's no equivalent in our society but it means we are...linked...he's part of me and I'm part of him."

Rhiannon pulled a confused face and shook her head and Ianto shrugged.

"I know I'm not explaining it very well, I don't understand it myself. It's just the way it is. It is what it is." He sighed.

"Do you love him?"

"You know me, Rhi. I never was very good at the casual thing."

"What are you doing here then, if you love him. Go and find him and sort it out. Mind, I want to meet him, this John and soon."

"Yeah, maybe," he chuckled, "thanks Rhi."

She slapped him playfully on the side the head,

"Go on with you, what are big sisters for?"

By the time Ianto left Rhiannon's house, it was getting late. He wrapped his overcoat around himself shivering slightly in the cool night air as he set off to walk home. He had only walked a few yards when he spotted a familiar figure sitting cross legged on the pavement with his back resting against the garden wall of one of Rhiannon's neighbours. Ianto came to a full stop in front of the man, sighing and giving an exaggerated eye-roll as John looked up at him with an apologetic pout. The Welshman shook his head and held out his hand and John took it. As he stood up, the former time agent went to wrap his arms around Ianto but the younger man stepped back and shook his head, "not here," he said, "I grew up on these streets. People around here aren't always that tolerant."

John wanted to argue but Ianto was probably right and anyway it wasn't their fight. He raised his arm and pulled back his sleeve, exposing his wrist strap, "Fancy a lift,"

"Nah, C'mon Captain, let's walk."

They walked together in silence for a while, their bodies not touching apart from the occasional brush of their arms.

"You know," John said, breaking the silence, "you can't go to America. You have to tell Jack."

"Yeah," Ianto sighed, "I know."


	22. Chapter 22

"What are you doing?"

John stood in the doorway to the bedroom, hands on hips, watching his partner with a look of disbelief on his face. Ianto was rummaging through the closet, clearly stressed as he kept running a hand nervously through his hair, as he pulled out various items of clothing. One by one, these items were held up for inspection before being unceremoniously dumped on top of a growing pile on the floor. A large hold all was open by his feet, its contents spilling out all over the rug.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he snapped.

"It looks like you're packing," John retorted, "but I know that can't be it, 'coz I'm pretty sure we talked about this."

Ianto paused. He looked at the deep red tee shirt he was holding in one hand and then at the khaki cargo pants he clutched in the other. Finally, he let out a calming breath, dropped them both on the floor and flopped on the bed with a sigh.

"We did, John, but I thought..."

"No, you didn't," John yelled loudly, "That's just it, you didn't think. You must know you **can't** go to America."

"I could, if...".

"Oh please," John growled in frustration, "please tell me you are not thinking of doing what I think you're thinking of doing."

Ianto's gaze flicked up. For a moment John thought the Welshman was going to lose his temper, but then, instead of shouting or throwing something at him, he gave an amused grin and chuckled.

"I'm not sure, could you repeat the question?"

John laughed, the tension leaving his body as he shook his head, "No, I don't think I could," he said. He moved further into the room and sat on the bed, draping an arm over Ianto's shoulder. He ruffled his hair then laughed again when Ianto sent him a death glare in response. He played with the man's fringe, pushing a few stray hairs out of his eyes, and smiled sadly.

"What am I going to do with you, Eye-Candy," he sighed.

Hitching a breath, Ianto made a noise which was half sob, half hiccup and stared into John's eyes. After a brief moment of silence, he spoke, his voice breaking with emotion, "I am sorry, you know."

"Yeah, I know." John assured him.

The two men sat side by side on the bed, the only sound, the noise of the cars going up and down on the busy road outside their house.

After a while, John lifted his arm to reveal his wrist strap, "Shall I call him?" he raised an eye-brow questioningly.

Ianto looked at the half packed bag on the floor, then sighed and nodded his head.

TWTWTWTWTW

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang and while Ianto made coffee, John showed Jack into the lounge.

"What's all this about?" Jack said. He walked up to the the fireplace and stood, warming his hands on the fire, "You know I'll always make time for you both but we're up against a deadline now. We leave for America the day after tomorrow and we have to be ready."

John sighed,

"He's not going, Jack," he said.

"What?" Jack spun around so quickly, John worried the man was going to fall into the fire, "Don't be ridiculous."

"I am not being ridiculous," John's voice rose, getting louder and louder with each syllable, "He. Is. Not. Going."

"Will you keep your voices down," Ianto pushed open the door with his foot and put the tray he was carrying down on the coffee table. He handed a coffee to Jack then sat down on the couch, watching with trepidation as the immortal took a sip.

Jack paused for a moment to savour the flavour, letting a contented sigh escape his lips before putting the mug down on the mantlepiece and turning his attention back to the matter in hand, "I'm sorry for shouting Ianto," he said, "but John dragged me all the way over here just to tell me some ridiculous story about you not coming to America with us."

Ianto shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold and held his mug in both his hands, close to his body.

"I'm not," he murmured.

"What?" Jack repeated. He looked at the two men sitting on the sofa, his gaze flicking from one to the other. When he spoke again his voice was clipped as if he was making an effort to keep from losing his temper.

"Look, John," he snapped, "I know you want to keep him safe. So do I, but it's not that easy. He's Torchwood and sometimes sacrifices have to be made."

"Don't you dare," It was Ianto, not John who spoke up, putting down his mug so forcefully, the contents spilled over the edge. He rounded angrily on Jack, throwing an arm towards John, "Don't you dare imply he isn't ready to make that sacrifice."

"Oh wake up, Ianto. Have you forgotten he was the one who brought us back here a year too late just so he could keep you safe from the 456."

Ianto looked away and huffed but didn't respond, after all it was true, and John had once claimed he was willing to give the earth to keep the young Welshman safe. He had a feeling this situation was different, but he knew Jack would think him naive for saying it.

"John doesn't think like you and me," Jack went on, "he doesn't understand about duty or responsibility," Ianto gritted his teeth but didn't rush to his defence this time, which, John had to admit, stung a little.

"Ha," he spat, "Who the hell do you think you are, Mr "I'm the Responsible One," You weren't always so quick to do your duty either. I remember when you used to be fun."

Jack snorted through his nose, breathing heavily. He threw up his arms in despair and yelled, "for fuck's sake." He rested his elbow on the mantle, massaging his brow as he took a couple of deep breaths in and out.

"Right," he said, finally turning around and pulling himself up to his full height, "this is getting us nowhere. We don't have a choice. Like I said, we're Torchwood and this is what we do. Ianto, you have your instructions, we are leaving the day after tomorrow, and you _will_ be leaving with us."

"Tosh had a choice," Ianto breathed. He knew he sounded like a petulant child, but somehow couldn't stop himself, "She doesn't have to go."

Jack glared at him, leaving the Welshman in no doubt as to what he thought about that particular statement. Ianto bowed his head in shame,

"'m sorry," he murmured.

Jack bristled and drained his mug before holding it out for Ianto to take, "Yes well, We'll so no more about it." He strode towards the door, his countenance making it clear that as far as he was concerned the matter was closed. He stopped when he had his hand on the door knob and turned, "I'll see you in the morning," he snapped. He was half way through the door when he felt John grab his wrist.

"Tell him, Ianto," the former time agent barked.

Looking down at John's hand, wrapped tightly around his wrist, Jack frowned and snapped,

"What the hell is the matter with you two."

"I can't go to America," Ianto spoke slowly, stressing each syllable as he went. He paused, unable to continue, and glanced at the two men by the door before quickly looking away again, "I can't go because," he tried again. He took a deep breath and looked at John imploringly, "I can't say it!" he yelled. Tears spilled over and ran unchecked down his cheeks and without hesitation, John rushed over to him, gathering him up in his arms and petting his hair, whispering soothing words and glaring at Jack over Ianto's shoulder.

"He's an addict, Jack," John said, "He can't go with you because if he did, he'd be cut off from his supplier."

Jack stood frozen to the spot, transfixed by the scene before him. Part of him wanted to yell at John and demand answers. Most of all he wanted to know how long this been going on and why the hell hadn't John told him sooner. But instead of asking questions, he slumped on the sofa and stared at his hands clasped in his lap. In his heart, he knew it wasn't John's fault. Jack had missed the signs again, just like he had in those first few months when Ianto had first joined the team. Then, as now, Jack had been so wrapped up in his own worthless existence, he'd failed to notice the shy Welshman quietly falling apart right before his eyes. He smiled grimly at John, then with a calm that he didn't feel, suggested Ianto go make more coffee. Ianto glared at him, letting them both know he knew they were sending him away so they could talk about him.

"What happened," Jack asked, as soon as he had left the room, "you didn't..." he let the sentence hang.

"What?" John frowned at first but then glared angrily, "No," he hissed, "What do you take me for, I haven't had anything stronger than coffee in years, not even hyper vodka."

"Hell," Jack sighed, rubbing his face in a gesture of despair, "I know that, Of course I do. I'm sorry I'm just looking for answers here. Isn't that why we took him to that clinic."

"I should have known better," John said, "And so should you. Have you forgotten how many rehabs I did before I could say I was cured. I went to those places over and over and said all the right things while I was there knowing full well I was going to go hook up with a dealer as soon as I left. I thought there was something special about that last place but it turns out there wasn't. It only worked for me because I was ready."

"And Ianto isn't?" Jack asked.

"No he isn't," John nodded, "I don't blame you for not seeing it, but me, I should have seen through him. I've been there so many times myself."

Jack let out a sigh again,

"What do we do now?" he asked, "you have to understand, this mission is more important than all of us. If it fails, Ianto, you, the team, all of you could die anyway."

"Yeah I know," John agreed, "but still, you must see Ianto can't go. Two or three days away from his dealer and he'd be no use to anyone. He'd be shaking so badly he'd have difficulty holding his gun let alone shooting straight. Even with all of Torchwood's resources, all that technology, there's nothing you can do to counteract that. I caught him packing earlier, I think he was going to try and smuggle enough through customs to last until the end of the mission, but I couldn't let him do that. Not knowing what the penalty would be if he got caught."

Jack nodded,

"I'll call Martha in the morning," he said, "she'll take him on as a patient since Owen is going to be away. Leon will have to know too and that will mean he'll be suspended," Jack remembered the last time the young Welshman had been suspended and was thankful he'd managed to keep that particular event out of the official records. On paper at least, Ianto's personal file was sketchy to say the least, "this couldn't have come at a worse time for him since half his friends will be away. Me, Owen, Gwen, Mickey."

"He'll be okay, Jack. He'll have Martha and Tosh. And his sister."

Jack looked over at John,

"And you. Don't forget he'll have you."

"Ah yeah," John glanced nervously at the door, "about that."


	23. Chapter 23

Jack was sitting in Captain Jackson's chair, looking around the office with a weary eye. Leon liked things neat and clean with cedar wood desk tops and gleaming stainless steel fittings but Jack missed his old office in the hub under the water tower. He'd loved its mildew stained tiles, antique desk and dust covered nick knacks, the latter of which Ianto always complained about even though Jack told him on many occasions that he didn't expect him to dust them. What he missed most of all, however was the heath robinesque nature of the technology which his team had had to cobble together out of whatever was available. In the new Torchwood everything was up to the minute and designed for the purpose but Tosh in particular had revelled in a mish mash of alien and human items, some of them from many centuries into the future.

With a final sigh, Jack began powering down the workstation in preparation for leaving for the night. Tomorrow he would be flying to America and he wasn't sure if he would be coming back. He'd lived in Wales for decades, seen many changes and lived many lives and through it all, he hadn't once put down roots. He'd tried, with Estelle, with Lucia, even with Ianto once, but he just hadn't tried hard enough and they'd all left him in the end. Despite what everyone thought, he could be and mostly was faithful, it was them that left him, not the other way around.

Even after he'd found his Doctor, when he could have gone anywhere or any time, he came back to Wales in the 21st Century, and why? For Ianto, he'd said. "I came back for you...", but then he'd thrown it out at the last minute to encompass all his team. Why had he done that? He hardly dare say it, even to himself, but he knew it was for fear of rejection. He'd seen the look of dread in Ianto's eyes and so he did the only thing he could, he took the words back. Though in hindsight he wondered if it had been hopeful surprise and not dread he saw in Ianto's eyes that day. He couldn't help but think how things might have turned out differently if he had told Ianto the truth and let that declaration stand from the beginning, because it was Ianto, and only Ianto he'd come back for . Sure, he'd thought of Gwen when he was away, and yes the thought of coming home to her was what kept him going at times, but it was for Ianto that he made the decision to turn down the doctor's offer to travel with him.

He sighed to himself. Oh well, he thought onwards and upwards. All of a sudden a noise startled him from his thoughts. The whirring of the lift and then the tell tale ping that it had stopped on his floor had him ducking behind the door and pulling out his webly before he remembered that the new hub had a staff rotation system and people were coming and going 24 hours a day. He put his gun away and chuckled at himself before pulling open the door and frowning when he saw who it was.

"Ianto," he greeted, "I thought you were on sick leave."

Without saying a word, Ianto barrelled into Jack, backing him up until his legs collided with the Leon's desk. Before he knew what was happening, Ianto's lips were sliding over his, pulling him into a kiss that was wild and passionate, and full of teeth and tongues and wandering hands. Somewhere in the back of Jack's mind, a little voice was telling him he shouldn't be doing this. For all he knew Ianto might have been possessed by a mind controlling alien, but oh, it was getting harder and harder to listen to that voice, especially when he felt Ianto's hand on his cock, rubbing it roughly with the heel of his palm. Suddenly, without warning, Ianto pulled away, fisted Jack's shirt, turned him around and punched him hard, sending him flying to the floor.

Jack rubbed his jaw and looked at Ianto. The man's hands were held stiffly by his side and his eyes were wild and staring. He was curling and uncurling his fists as if he was getting ready to hit Jack again as soon as he stood up.

"I take it John's told you," Jack said.

"Why did you do it, Jack," Ianto yelled back.

"It's what John wants."

"But you could have said no."

Jack shook his head, he sat up but didn't feel ready to stand yet. Besides which, Ianto still looked as if he'd hit him again as soon as he was on his feet.

"I couldn't," he insisted, "I have to take him with us because we need all the help we can get. Besides, John has a working vortex manipulator, which could mean the difference between saving this world or ending it."

"Don't give me that crap. You and John are human and you're from the future, if the world had ended now, you wouldn't be here."

"First of all, how do you know John hasn't always been destined to do something. That it's only his intervention that stops the world from ending. And secondly, Saxon knows how to make a paradox machine so both realities could be true."

Ianto sagged, the truth of Jack's words sinking in. He seemed to stumble against the desk, leaning heavily against it and looking as if he might fall down if it wasn't holding him up. Carefully, Jack stood, approaching Ianto as if he was a scared animal. He sat on the desk and place a hand on Ianto's shoulder. Ianto buried his head in his hands.

"I can't do this on my own," he moaned.

"You won't be on your own. You'll have Martha to help you, and Tosh."

"I don't even know why he cares so much, he never has before."

"We both know he cares more than he lets on, besides he's probably thinking of what would happen to his children in the future if the world ends now."

Ianto's head snapped up.

"oh" Jack said, "I thought you knew."

Ianto shook his head and Jack carried on talking,

"A boy and a girl." he said, "I think in his time line they'd be about 8 and 10 now. It gets a bit confusing when you're travelling backwards and forwards in time" he explained. He hung his head for a moment and then looked at Ianto straight on, "I should probably tell you I've got a daughter too, she's called Melissa and she's 38 now. She's got a son called Stephen but he doesn't know I'm his Grandfather, he calls me Uncle Jack."

"Oh," Ianto said calmly. He pursed his lips and shook his head slowly. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I only scratched the surface with you two after all, I never really knew either of you."

"You know me better than anyone in this century," Jack insisted.

Ianto let it pass, but he knew that by saying 'in this century,' and not 'in this time' Jack was probably thinking of someone else or several someone elses but from earlier centuries. This century wasn't that old and in Jack's long life knowing him better than anyone for that short period of time, didn't count for much, "and," Jack went on, "I think you know John better than anyone, in any century. I don't think he's ever bonded with anyone before. He did try with me once, but I guess it wasn't meant to be."

"I suppose," Ianto shrugged. He looked sideways on at Jack and smiled a little smile which had Jack's heart melting just a bit, "Jack?" Ianto asked him tentatively, "Why did you leave."

Jack made a noise in the back of his throat, like a short humourless laugh,

"Which time?" he said.

"The last time. When you moved out of the house with me and John. You know, I didn't see it coming, not at all. I thought we were happy. Sure, you did your disappearing act now and again, but you always came back so I thought you liked things the way they were. I know it was a bit unconventional, but you don't do conventional anyway."

"And what is it about me that makes you think I don't do conventional?" Jack lifted his eye-brow, "You've seen the photographs, you know I've been married. Why do you think I went through with that if I don't do conventional."

Ianto shrugged,

"I dunno. I thought maybe you needed a new toaster?" He grinned and Jack looked at him incredulously for a moment, then looked away and gave a little chuckle.

"Maybe it's just me you don't do conventional with," Ianto went on, "You know before you left, I was thinking of asking you if we could make it official."

Jack's eyes bugged and Ianto chuckled at the expression on his ex lover's face,

"Oh for gods sake, Jack," he laughed. "Not like that. I mean I wanted to ask you if it was okay if we told everyone about you and me and John but then you came back and asked me to chose between the two of you, just like that."

"I guess I've lived in this time too long," Jack sighed, "gotten used to the idea of love being a certain way and to put it bluntly, I didn't want to share you. I couldn't stand him looking at you and I wanted to smash his face in every time you looked at him."

"You never said, you never even said you loved me, not really."

"No, I didn't. Because I'm a fool, a stupid, old fool who'd rather lose everything I ever cared about than admit I had feelings that went beyond one night stands and alien orgies, and having a convenient, warm body to cuddle up to."

"You_ are_ a fool, Jack if you think for a second that John and I didn't see through that act. I know you care about people more than that," he paused, "I just didn't know you cared about me more than that."

Jack smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"S' okay," Ianto replied, he swung his legs, kicking his feet against the desk. The action made him appear so much younger than his years, "Jack?" he went on, questioningly. He turned his body towards the older man and looked at him for a couple of seconds before dropping his gaze again, "when this is all over are you coming back?"

"That depends," Jack murmured. He took his hand and used it to lifted Ianto's head by hooking a finger under his chin so that their eyes were level with each other's.

Ianto licked his lips and swallowed nervously, "on what?" he gulped.

Moving closer Jack angled his head, slowly bringing their lips together in a brief kiss that had their lips sticking together when they pulled apart. Jack's mouth lingered, blowing hot air into Ianto's ear,

"on whether I've got anything to come back for," he whispered breathily.

At that, Ianto lunged, taking Jack's head between his hands and kissing him hard. Without breaking the kiss, Jack slipped off the desk and turned so that he was standing between Ianto's legs and Ianto wrapped them around his waist, using them to pull him even closer. Their upper bodies were flush against one another but just when things were getting heated, Jack was suddenly pulled from Ianto's arms and Ianto found himself face to face with John Hart.

"Don't do it," Captain Hart implored, "can't you see he's taking advantage of you. I know you hate me right now but you'd hate yourself more in the morning if you slept with him."

Ianto rolled his eyes,

"I wasn't going to sleep with him," he tutted. "Well," he went on, his eyes twinkling, "not without asking you first."

John turned slowly towards Jack who was still lying on the floor where he'd landed when John had pulled him away. The immortal gave him a flirty smirk and a come hither eye-brow lift.

"Ianto Jones I love you," John whooped happily, "tonight Jack and I are going to give you the night of your life, for tomorrow...tomorrow, we save the world."

TWTWTWTW

Ianto gave one last wave as John and Jack disappeared from sight as they passed through the security gate. They'd all ready said their goodbyes, twice last night and once this morning. To the outside world it was important they maintain the cover that Torchwood had set up for them. That Jack and John, together with Owen, Gwen and Mickey were a group of colleagues from a hi tech company travelling to America for a convention. There could be no emotional breakdowns in the airport departure lounge, nothing that would give them away as anything other than friends and lovers fully expecting to see each other again in two weeks time. Only Martha and Ianto had decided they could maintain the pretense, the others having elected to stay at home and keep the emotional goodbyes behind closed doors.

Martha sighed as she waved to Mickey. When he was out of sight she turned and took Ianto's arm, walking with him towards the exit.

"I wonder if we'll ever see them again," she said.

"Of course we will," Ianto assured her, "The Doctor will show up soon and sort it out."

"I dunno, Ianto. He didn't when the 456 came and maybe Tom would still be with me if he had. Did Jack tell you what the doctor said to him last time he saw him, how he tried to set him up on a one night stand and refused to help you. And you know what else really stings. He told Jack he was doing something nice for all his friends before he regenerated but he didn't come and see me at all and I can't help but feel a bit betrayed about that."

"Ah but," Ianto said, patting her arm where it was linked with his, "You don't know that he hasn't done something for you in the future, or should that be he is going to do something," he shook his head, "oh you know what I mean?"

Her brow crinkled for a moment but then she grinned happily,

"Oh, I hadn't even thought of that."

"And as for the 456," Ianto went on, "maybe some things just have to happen a certain way and that was one of them, maybe me getting kidnapped was like that too."

They reached the lift leading to the short stay car park and Ianto unlinked his arm from Martha's and reached out his hand. Martha watched carefully as he pressed the button to call the lift,

"We'll pop by my surgery on the way back," she said, "and I'll prescribe something that should help with those shakes."

He drew back his hand back quickly and held it in his other one.

"Come on, Ianto," she smiled, "if I am going to treat you, we can't pretend it isn't happening."

"Yeah, sorry," he smiled back and let the hand go, holding out his arm for her to take again as they stepped into the lift.

"So," she said laughingly, "I'm right aren't i? About you and the Captain and," she cleared her throat, "um the other captain."

Ianto blushed,

"We...dabble," he smirked.

fin

TWTWTWTWTW

Coming soon...(if anyone's interested)

The Home Front

"Three minutes, Mr Prime Minister. Are you ready?"

The usually media savy, charismatic Prime Minister looked pale and wan as the make up girl, fussed around him, making last minute touches to his face. He nodded once to indicate that he was ready and the girl pulled the tissue from his collar, put away her brushes and moved away from the stand.

"Two minutes," a disembodied voice called out.

The Prime Minister read his speech over again. It was very short, only one paragraph. He could have memorised it normally but given the enormity of the situation his mind was all ready too full.

"One minute."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then repeated the action twice more before straightening his tie. He looked towards his wife who gave him a small smile and a thumbs up sign. He turned back to the TV camera just in time to hear the disembodied voice...

"Three, two, one..."

_We interrupt this broadcast to bring you an important message from the Prime Minister..._

TW

When the President of the United States of America, a man that would go down in history as the one no one could remember the name of, sent troops over the border to Canada, storming their Parliament and deposing the Canadian Prime Minister, it was destined to lead to war with Europe. With their partners trapped on the other side of the Atlantic, joining the local resistance in their fight to overthrow Harold Saxon and end the conflict before it turns nuclear, this is the story of how Martha, Tosh, Rhys and Ianto survive in Wartime Britain.


End file.
